"I am available" - Manager accused of sending message to Manchester United

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner must have been sending a message to Manchester United and other big clubs about his availability when announcing his departure from the club at the end of the season in yesterday’s press conference.

That’s the view of pundit Paul Merson as he responded to the news that Glasner had officially announced he’d be leaving his role as Palace boss at the end of this campaign.

Merson says it’s not a big surprise that the Austrian tactician isn’t staying at Selhurst Park after he never ended up signing a new contract, and he now thinks he’s sending a clear message to potential suitors.

As noted by Sky Sports in the clip below, Glasner is one of the favourites for the Man Utd job, and Merson thinks he wants big clubs to be aware that he’s definitely leaving Palace…

– Saturday, 17 January 2026

“Everybody knew he was going to leave,” Merson said.

“It was just strange it came out yesterday.

“For me it was a bit of a ‘I’m just letting all the big clubs know I’m definitely, definitely leaving. Even though you might think I am, now you know I definitely am.’

“Maybe it was because of what happened at Man United , Man United might have not got in touch with him … now he’s just letting everybody know…”

Oliver Glasner speaking at a press conference (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Glasner has done a tremendous job at Palace, winning them the FA Cup last season – the first trophy of the club’s history.

He’s also done well despite losing key players to bigger clubs, and in theory he should find it easy to work with a higher calibre of players around him at Old Trafford.

At the same time, though, he lacks that big club experience and might find it a bit of a shock working under so much pressure all of a sudden.