Crystal Palace supervisor Oliver Glasner has given a worrying replace on the health of Matheus Franca.
The 20-year-old ahead — a nine-time worldwide throughout varied youth ranges for Brazil — was an extremely thrilling £26m signing for Palace when he arrived from Flamengo in the summertime of 2023.
Franca arrived at Selhurst Park having scored 9 targets in 54 appearances for the Scarlet-Black, profitable Copa Libertadores and Copa do Brasil titles.
Nonetheless, his time with Crystal Palace up to now has been totally derailed by accidents, with Franca first spending an prolonged interval sidelined with a rib fracture, whereas he’s presently out with a groin drawback.
Franca has performed simply 12 occasions for Palace up to now, failing to attain and offering only one help. Solely two of these appearances have come underneath Glasner, whereas he’s but to function this season.
Any hope amongst Crystal Palace supporters that they could see Franca again in motion quickly has been quashed by Glasner.
The truth is, the Brazilian is extremely unlikely to function in any respect for the remainder of 2024.
“He’s too far-off,” Glasner mentioned (by way of journalist Bobby Manzi). “I don’t suppose that he’ll play many video games and even one recreation in 2024 for us. We anticipated Franca to be again inside two to a few months and he’s nonetheless out.”
Has Matheus Franca already performed his final recreation underneath Glasner?
Palace lastly picked up their first Premier League win of the season on Sunday, beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 because of a Jean-Philippe Mateta objective.
Nonetheless, that victory nonetheless leaves them on simply six factors from 9 video games up to now, solely two factors adrift of the relegation zone.
Glasner stays underneath immense stress and rumours persist that he could effectively lose his job if outcomes don’t enhance quickly.
With that in thoughts, there’s each likelihood that Franca has already performed his final recreation underneath the Austrian coach.
