Crystal Palace had an unusual winter transfer window that saw them focus on attackers over defenders, as we look at whether they got their strategy right.
Crystal Palace’s January window looked like a club choosing to swing for a European run: they doubled down on firepower while accepting the risk that replacing Marc Guehi cleanly, in-season, might be impossible. Whether they “achieved” what they set out to do depends on your yardstick of Premier League steadiness or UEFA Europa Conference League upside.
January was always going to be a strange month for Crystal Palace, because their season has two different storylines running at once. In the Premier League, they have been living in the thick of the table—15th after 24 games on 29 points as of 1 February 2026—close enough to feel one good run, but not stable enough to ignore the margins.
In Europe, the picture is more hopeful: Crystal Palace finished tenth in the UEFA Europa Conference League league phase (10 points) and moved into the knockout phase play-offs, where they are scheduled to face Zrinjski Mostar over two legs in February. That context matters, because it frames what the club “needed” from January: not just depth, but specific match-winners for tense, low-error continental ties.
Crystal Palace did act decisively to bolster the forward line. They brought in Brennan Johnson from Tottenham for £35 million, signed Jorgen Strand Larsen from Wolves for a reported £48m, and added Evann Guessand on loan from Aston Villa.
Yet the same window also ripped away the captain-shaped safety blanket: Marc Guehi completed a move to Manchester City for an initial £20 million plus add-ons, on a five-and-a-half-year deal. So the question isn’t “did Palace sign players?” They did. The question is whether they solved the right problems at the right time, or simply chose the most exciting route to a trophy that would change the club’s modern history
Did Crystal Palace target the right areas?
If the objective was to raise the ceiling for a UEFA Europa Conference League push, prioritising attackers is a defensible bet. Crystal Palace’s incoming business, as reported, is overwhelmingly geared towards adding goal threat, variety of profiles, and rotation options for a schedule that can punish a thin squad.
But if the objective was to protect week-to-week league consistency, the risk is obvious: January didn’t just demand “more goals,” it demanded fewer panic moments. Guehi leaving creates a leadership and organisation vacuum that is hard to price, and harder to patch with internal solutions alone.
Crystal Palace can still argue they made a pragmatic call. Guehi’s deal was brought forward by City partly because the South London outfit risked losing him for nothing later, according to reporting in the same period.
Attack over defence?
Yes, the emphasis tilted heavily towards the attack. The most high-profile additions were Johnson, Strand Larsen, and Evann Guessand, three forwards/attackers by role and usage. Meanwhile, the marquee departure was a centre-back and dressing-room reference point, with no equally headline-grabbing defensive replacement listed alongside those attacking deals.
That imbalance does not automatically mean the plan is wrong; it just means Crystal Palace are choosing to win games in Europe by being more dangerous than the opponent, rather than by becoming harder to break down. In knockout football, that can work, until one sloppy 10-minute spell turns a tie.
What Marc Guehi’s exit changes for Crystal Palace
Guehi to Manchester City is the kind of move that changes Crystal Palace’s season in subtle ways: the next defender does not just defend, he has to calm the stadium, manage transitions, and keep the team’s spacing intact when legs get heavy.
Manchester City paid an initial £20 million plus add-ons, and Guehi signed through 2031, so this wasn’t a late-window gamble, it was a decisive, planned upgrade for them.
For Crystal Palace, it likely makes a league-based European finish tougher, because consistency usually starts with defensive clarity. In the Conference League, though, the impact is more nuanced: if the new forwards raise Palace’s chance creation and ruthlessness, they can still tilt ties their way even with a slightly leakier back line, especially across two legs where one big attacking moment can rewrite the story.
Transfers to affect the Premier League and Conference League campaigns?
Crystal Palace are already in the knockout phase play-offs and will face Zrinjski Mostar over two legs on 19 and 26 February, so adding forwards who can decide tight ties is directly relevant.
Jorgen Strand Larsen arrives with recent Premier League output (14 goals in 35 appearances for Wolves in 2024/25), while Brennan Johnson is a proven top-flight attacker signed to “bolster attacking options” during a season with European demands. Evann Guessand adds another flexible attacking option on loan until the end of the season, with an option to make the move permanent.
In the Premier League, the immediate question is whether these additions can turn narrow margins into wins often enough to create a genuine continental push from their current mid-table standing (13th with 28 points from 21 matches, per one widely tracked table source).
Johnson was signed for £35 million and was available for selection early in January, which suggests Crystal Palace wanted impact now rather than “next season.” Strand Larsen’s deal was also framed as a club-record move, signalling Palace expect him to move the needle quickly.
Conclusion
Taken together, the points are valid, but they pull in different directions. Crystal Palace clearly used January to strengthen, and the “where” is unmistakable: the window was an attacking statement, with Brennan Johnson arriving for £35 million, Jorgen Strand Larsen reportedly following for £48 million, and Evann Guessand added on loan.
Those moves make sense if the club is serious about the UEFA Europa Conference League, because Europe at this level often rewards teams who can change a game without changing the game plan; one runner in behind, one penalty-box presence, one extra option when the first idea stalls. It also fits the reality that Palace are already in the knockout phase play-offs and have February ties lined up, which increases the value of immediate-impact forwards.
At the same time, the Guehi exit is not a footnote, it is a structural change. Manchester City did not just take a defender; they took a leader, and they did it in the middle of a season, for an initial £20 million plus add-ons.
That will test Crystal Palace’s defensive resilience in exactly the sort of cagey away legs and late-game situations that decide European knockouts. So: was the window wise? If the aim is to give Palace a sharper blade to chase the Conference League, it was. If the aim was to make them safer, calmer, and more predictable every weekend, it’s harder to argue they fixed the biggest hole they created.
