Crystal Palace: Four signings that would be perfect for Thomas Frank in January
Thomas Frank has replaced Pierre Sage as the manager of Crystal Palace and will now be aiming to turn their fortunes around.
Palace are bottom of the table and have shown serious signs of decline this season after the loss of Oliver Glasner in the dugout. Sage just wasn’t able to get the same kind of results as his predecessor over his short reign and has paid the price early.
All Palace can hope now is that they’ve appointed Brentford Frank rather than Tottenham Frank. It could be an ideal opportunity for him to get back on track and redeem his reputation.
But he’ll need all the help he can get to turn this around.
Tiago Gabriel
Under Sage, Palace have had comfortably the worst defensive record in the Premier League, conceding 24 goals after 10 games.
Losing their two best centre-backs in successive transfer windows in 2026 hasn’t helped. Marc Guehi went to Manchester City in January before Maxence Lacroix joined Chelsea in the summer.
Palace have failed to replace them adequately. They’ve brought in a couple of temporary solutions on loan but need to think about the long term.
They might have to be savvy in January to find a good solution, looking beyond the usual places.
One player they’ve been linked with recently is Lecce defender Gabriel, who would be a good fit for Frank’s tactics if they can win the race.
Good in the air and alert when the ball’s on the ground, the 21-year-old is ready for his next step and a Premier League move could suit.
During his time at Brentford, Frank was able to help plenty of players improve and Gabriel could be the right kind of defender to work with in the short and long term.
Conor Gallagher
Frank was delighted to sign Gallagher for Spurs last January. He won’t have been so delighted to be sacked four weeks later.
But with Gallagher falling behind in importance for Spurs this season, could he become available again?
If so, he could bring fresh energy into the Palace midfield. Adam Wharton hasn’t quite looked the same player there this season and could probably use some help to get back to his usual standards.
Gallagher could easily do the legwork. He also knows what it takes to play for Palace after impressing there on loan from Chelsea during the 2021-22 season, a spell that included eight goals from 39 games.
Run it back?
Richarlison
Palace could also do with improving their attack. Jean-Philippe Mateta is clearly unsettled, Jorgen Strand Larsen hasn’t got going and Eddie Nketiah isn’t up to scratch either.
Could Richarlison be worth a call? He’s been completely frozen out by Spurs, where Frank had a better opinion of him than Roberto De Zerbi does.
It’s anyone’s guess what Richarlison wants as his next step. But going to Palace would allow him to link back up with a familiar manager and stay in London, too.
The Brazilian is versatile enough to play as a lone striker or in support of another if Palace want to persist with Strand Larsen, Mateta or Nketiah as well.
Aaron Hickey
If Frank wants to look further back, to happier times with Brentford, he might have a hard time convincing anyone to reunite with him given the current positions of both clubs.
But considering Hickey isn’t starting regularly for Brentford, with Michael Kayode ahead of him in the hierarchy at right-back, we wonder if he might be tempted.
Frank rated Hickey highly during their time together. It’s easy to forget the versatile full-back is still only 24.
Palace had to replace Daniel Munoz this summer and his successor Anan Khalaili has been hit and miss so far. Hickey would be someone Frank could trust to offer more security at wing-back.
Frank shut the door on a Brentford exit for Hickey before but what if he turned out to be the man to get him out of the Gtech Community Stadium after all?
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