Joel Ward now expresses his thoughts on Crystal Palace’s £30 million sale of Joachim Andersen to Fulham.
Since moving to Selhurst Park from Portsmouth in 2012, the 34-year-old has seen a lot of players come and go. However, Crystal Palace sold four of the more gifted players the Emsworth native has worked with: Michael Olise, Joachim Andersen, Jordan Ayew, and Sam Johnstone.
It’s interesting to note that the Crystal Palace No. 2 advocated keeping Marc Guehi in SE25 over Denmark international, citing superior importance.
“From my perspective, I think obviously keeping Marc was integral for us to build around him,” Ward said in an interview with talkSPORT. For us, Joa was a fantastic player. You can’t always keep everyone, but I haven’t seen many players with the passing range and team-unlocking ability he possesses.
But commercially speaking, it was a wise sell, particularly as Maxence Lacroix was hired from VfL Wolfsburg as a replacement very quickly.
Selling the Denmark international to Crystal Palace was a wise decision.
Andersen, who will turn 29 in a year, was bought by Dougie Freedman from Lyon at £17 million back in 2021.
Lacroix, on the other hand, is only 24 years old and cost £18 million to sign from VfL Wolfsburg. As a result, not only did Crystal Palace earn £13 million on the £30 million sale of Andersen, but his successor also has greater experience at the top level.
To put it mildly, a sustainable replacement.
On 79 occasions, Ward and Andersen shared the field, which helped Crystal Palace average 1.32 points per game. In 2022, they also began the FA Cup semifinal at Wembley.
As a result, Andersen’s departure will undoubtedly cause some personal sorrow, but as was previously mentioned, it makes sense from a commercial standpoint why the sale was approved.
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