Fans are often warned about falling in love with loan players, as they will often return to their owner clubs, and either stay there or get a move elsewhere.
Some Crystal Palace examples include Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ashley Cole, and then one who eventually did return to the club permanently, Wilfried Zaha.
Loftus-Cheek was on loan from Chelsea, and the Eagles currently have Trevoh Chalobah enjoying a temporary stint at Selhurst Park from the exact same club.
One other loanee who came from Chelsea was part of the 2021/22 campaign, where Palace finished 12th under Patrick Vieira.
Crystal Palace's 2021/22 signings
During this window, Crystal Palace spent around £71.3m on bringing nine new players to the club on permanent deals. The most expensive was yet another player from Chelsea, this time not on loan, but on a permanent, with the signing of Marc Guehi for around £20m.
Another acquisition that was made during that season, who has gone on to become an important player for the Eagles, is Jean-Philippe Mateta. He joined Palace from Mainz, having spent a year on loan at the club already, joining for a fee of around £9m.
Marc Guehi
£20m
Joachim Andersen
£14.5m
Odsonne Edouard
£13.5m
Jean-Philippe Mateta
£9m
Michael Olise
£7.7m
Will Hughes
£5.8m
Luke Plange
£982k
Remi Matthews
£0
Jacob Montes
£0
The best deal of that season turned out to be Michael Olise joining from Reading, as he was later sold for a massive profit, penning terms with Bayern Munich over the summer of 2024 in a deal worth around £50.8m.
But there was one more deal made, with a particular loanee who won over the Palace fans’ hearts.
Conor Gallagher's transfer valuation after leaving Palace
Conor Gallagher spent the 2021/22 season on loan with Crystal Palace, making 39 appearances for the club, scoring eight goals, providing five assists, and totalling 3,210 minutes played.
At the end of his loan spell, the young English midfielder returned to be part of Chelsea’s squad under Thomas Tuchel, valued at around £21m at the time by Transfermarkt.
The 24-year-old went on to make 95 appearances for the Blues first team, netting ten times, providing ten assists, and even captaining the club for the majority of the 2023/24 campaign in the absence of injured duo Reece James and Ben Chilwell.
This summer, the England international secured a move to Atlético Madrid, for a fee of around £36m. Gallagher is now valued at £42m by Transfermarkt, double his valuation of when he was at Crystal Palace back in 2021/22.
The England international has already played 13 times for the Spanish giants, scoring two goals in La Liga, and totaling 835 minutes played.
The midfielder continues to impress, once labelled a “warrior” by Jacek Kulig whilst at Palace. The combative midfielder’s game hasn’t changed, still working his socks off, and affecting the game at both ends of the pitch.
Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace side could really do with a Gallagher-type midfielder right now, as Adam Wharton is out injured, Chiekh Doucoure has struggled for consistent minutes, and other options, whilst being sufficient, do not offer the same duel success numbers as someone like Gallagher.
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