It's abundantly clear that things aren't great behind the scenes at Crystal Palace at the moment.
Is Strand Larsen capture an olive branch for Glasner?
Captain, Marc Guehi, was allowed to sign for Manchester City earlier in the window, and first-team manager, Oliver Glasner, just a few months after taking the Eagles to their first-ever FA Cup win, spoke of feeling "abandoned completely" by the board, largely because of the Guehi deal.
Indeed, the Austrian undoubtedly incurred the wrath of Palace owner Steve Parish when he went on to say that: "This has been going on for weeks and months now.
"We feel no support, and the worst thing is selling our captain one day before playing a Premier League game.
"I have always kept my mouth shut, but I can't because I have to defend these players."
Epic FA Cup embarrassment
Players who have struggled to replicate the form that earned them their victory at Wembley and subsequent foray into European football.
The team have not won any of their last 12 games in all competitions, and that includes being knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round by sixth-tier National League North side Macclesfield.
That upset was, arguably, the greatest in the history of the world's oldest cup competition.
With Jean-Philippe Mateta also attempting to engineer a move away from Selhurst Park before the deadline, things weren't looking any better from Palace's point of view...
Mateta's medical ends AC Milan dream
However, the hand of fate often works in mysterious ways where football is concerned, and not only did Mateta not get his desired move to AC Milan because of an apparent issue with his medical, but the South Londoners broke their transfer record again to bring in Wolves hit-man, Jorgen Strand Larsen.
The 25-year-old Norwegian international signed on a four-and-a-half-year deal worth up to €50 million, and it's understood he will wear the number 22 shirt.
The first question Palace fans might be pondering is whether Strand Larsen will play in addition to Mateta in what could turn into a blossoming attacking partnership, or if he's been brought in to play the target man role he executed so well at Wolves last season.
In terms of league output in 2025/26, just one goal and one assist is a real worry, particularly in light of the fee that the South Londoners have paid for his services.
Strand Larsen: Instead of Mateta or alongside...
A collectively awful campaign for Wolves can be classed as mitigating circumstances, however, and his 14 goals and four assists in 35 Premier League games in 2024/25 are a more accurate guide as to his potential in front of goal.
With Palace just nine points above the EPL's bottom three and currently 15th in the table, not even Mateta's eight league goals this season have been enough to reverse the slide.
The two are different but very similar sorts of players. With respect to the Frenchman, he is an 'old-fashioned' and physical centre-forward who is a nightmare for defenders to play against.
When Eberechi Eze was in tandem with him at Palace, their partnership flourished simply because their skill sets were complementary to each other.
Could it be that Glasner is looking to potentially utilise Strand Larsen and Mateta in tandem - maybe not with Strand Larsen in the 'Eze role', so to speak, but as a second striker. Or will he oust Mateta entirely to bring the Norwegian in as the sole number nine?
Given Mateta's injury concerns and the World Cup looming, we could see the Frenchman undergo surgery soon, and Strand Larsen might thus be thrust into the leading role with no change to the system needed.
Impressive figures at Wolves
Certainly, Strand Larsen can also play the physically powerful centre-forward role with aplomb, holding up the ball with his back to goal and playing in colleagues as needed, just like Mateta at his best.
Not frightened to get involved in a one-on-one duel if the game calls for it, the Norwegian contested 566 in his two seasons at Wolves, with only Joao Gomes attempting more for the club.
Aerially, no one came close to Strand Larsen's 305 attempted duels, and for a team in Wolves that's still languishing at the bottom of the table, the striker's commitment is therefore impressive.
Lest we forget, he can also play off a striker and get in behind defences himself, where a shooting accuracy of 69% has served him well, particularly last season, as mentioned.
Only Matheus Cunha's 110 shots in league matches in 24/25 for the Midlanders were more than Strand Larsen's 54, but the latter's 26% conversion rate was far more impressive than Cunha's 14%, something worth noting.
Also renowned for his work rate and in-game intelligence, the new No.22 could be just the sort of player to reignite Palace's front line and bring the best out of colleagues who need to turn a corner, whether he plays with Mateta or not.
