Crystal Palace are desperately trying to convince the “fake” manager to replace Glasner

Crystal Palace have identified their top target as a replacement for Oliver Glasner, with the Austrian set to leave at the end of the season.

The Glasner era is coming to an end

The Premier League season is coming to an end, as is Glasner’s reign at Selhurst Park, and with one game to go before the Europa Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano, the manager has insisted that he will not change his squad too much.

Glasner says: “I was traveling a lot because I watched Vallecano in Valencia on Thursday, so I had a lot of hours on the plane and in the hotel, and I thought about it.

“So we won’t rotate too much. Yes, maybe we will make a lot of changes too early, maybe after the last 60, 70 minutes, maybe one or two at halftime if that’s possible, but everything else we won’t do.”

Of course, the 51-year-old will be looking to sign off at home on the best possible note which could hamper Arsenal’s Premier League ambitions, with Mikel Arteta’s side traveling to Selhurst Park on the final day.

Glasner has confirmed he will leave in January, but Steve Parish is yet to find a replacement, despite identifying a number of targets, including AFC Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Fulham boss Marco Silva.

Iraola to Crystal Palace update

Now there has been a new update on Palace’s pursuit of Iraola, with a report from Football Insider revealing that Crystal Palace are trying hard to persuade him to move to Selhurst Park, having identified the Bournemouth manager as their top target.

Chelsea were also interested in signing the Spaniard, but they have now brought in Xabi Alonso, paving the way for Palace in some ways, and winning the Europa Conference League will increase their chances even further.

Reporter Pete O’Rourke added: “Palace are very determined to win this race for Iraola and try to persuade him to move to Selhurst Park.

“He is a top manager and there is no doubt that he will be in high demand here in the summer because of what he has done at Bournemouth.”

It’s been an impressive campaign for Bournemouth, who can only qualify for the Champions League if they finish the season strongly, and Iraola has won praise for his style of play from scout Matthew Avery.

So, while it will be sad to see Glasner go, Iraola, who likes to use a 4-2-3-1 formation, could be the perfect replacement.

Read next: Crystal Palace eye another chance for Iraola