Crystal Palace Loan Target 'Unlikely' to Want Selhurst Park Switch as Exit Looms

The success of loan signings is often a case of hit-and-miss, but Crystal Palace proved last season that temporary transfers can be of great benefit, particularly in the thriving of Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan from Chelsea at Selhurst Park last term.

The midfielder turned in some star performances during his switch to south London prior to his return to Stamford Bridge this summer, having earned himself a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the World Cup in the meantime.

Elsewhere, Timothy Fosu-Mensah also spent the duration of the previous campaign on loan at Palace from Manchester United in a bid to gain more first team action. According to the Manchester Evening News, the Dutchman will seek a similar opportunity next term, but not through a return to Selhurst Park.

Whereas Loftus-Cheek became a first-team regular under Roy Hodgson when fit last season, Fosu-Mensah struggled to find such consistency in the former England manager’s selection.

The Dutchman made the switch to the Eagles in search of more regular game time than he would have been afforded under Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford and managed to turn in 17 Premier Leagues starts for Palace, but ultimately failed to nail down his starting berth.

The rise of Aaron Win-Bissaka complicated Fosu-Mensah’s position in the second half of the season, and it is said that the promising young defender has been discouraged from returning to south London next term by Hodgson’s decision to play him just once in the last three months of his spell with the Eagles last season.

Fosu-Mensah apparently remains determined to secure another loan move away from Manchester ahead of the upcoming season, though a return to Crystal Palace will not be on the cards.