EXCLUSIVE: BBC reveals hefty Joachim Andersen demands behind the scenes at Crystal Palace this summer which caused rift and forced Eagles to accept £30m bid to sell player to Fulham as player accuses club of ‘cynical change to earn last coins from him’ after transfer

Joachim Andersen was sold this summer for a fee of £30m to Fulham and now the reasoning behind this has been shared.

For Crystal Palace, a defensive overhaul has taken place over the summer and it leaves Oliver Glasner with far better options than he had last season. Joachim Andersen may have been sold to Fulham but in his exit, the Eagles have bolstered with two players of a similar level to Joachim Andersen.

Trevoh Chalobah is a great pick-up from Chelsea on a loan considering he is easily among their best defenders and has just fallen victim to the fact Chelsea are terribly ran. Meanwhile, Maxence Lacroix is easily as good as Andersen and with Glasner’s tutelage, he could be perhaps better.

What prompted the Eagles to sell Joachim Andersen

It is known that Andersen has received a chunky pay rise after his move away from Selhurst Park which he could point to as the main factor in his decision to leave. Andersen was said to be upset Crystal Palace did not match his wage demands which are thought to have been as much as double his £80k-a-week wage.

Joel Ward suggested selling was the right decision by Crystal Palace as it allowed Marc Guehi to stay, but now it has been reported the reason Crystal Palace were prompted to sell.

According to the BBC, Andersen informed Crystal Palace that he desired a new deal with improved terms on the £80k-a-week contract he signed in 2021. In response to this, Crystal Palace did not think they could offer the 28-year-old Dane the same money or contract length that he wanted.

Fulham got wind of this and made their offer of £30m which Crystal Palace viewed as simply too good to refuse considering his age and various other factors. Selling Andersen may have felt like a strange decision at the time, but the more we learn about it, the more the deal makes sense.

Andersen had accused Crystal Palace of betrayal as he cited what he perceived a “cynical change” from the club and claimed he was sold so the Eagles could “earn the last coins from him”.

Crystal Palace got two for the price of one
In selling Andersen, Crystal Palace managed to multiply their strong centre-back options, all for cheaper than Andersen’s £30m fee.

Lacroix cost just £18m which is a bargain in this market for a player Glasner will have been desperate to sign, even calling the Frenchman to convince him of the move. Then to also add Chalobah on loan was genius business from the Eagles.

Both of these players are true quality and capable of starting Premier League games regularly. Now Glasner has the tools he just needs to figure out how to best use them all in order to fire Crystal Palace shooting back up the table.