Matt Turner says he is ‘ready to get to work’ in South London as he became Crystal Palace’s sixth signing of the transfer window
The goalkeeper joins the Eagles from Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan deal, and is the third signing of the day after the additions of Maxence Lacroix and former Arsenal teammate Eddie Nketiah.
“I'm really excited to be here,” he told Palace TV. “The last minutes of any deal get a little bit stressful, but it's really good to be here now, and I'm just ready to get to work.”
“The Premier League is the best league in the world, so I really want to be here. I really want to challenge myself. I think I learned a lot of lessons, particularly last season.
“I learned what it takes to win in this league. The margins are very fine, and obviously I learned a lot of lessons while I was at Arsenal as well.
“For me, I've grown a lot as a player, a goalkeeper, a person, a father, a husband, and for me, I feel like I'm in a really good place to put my best foot forward and really hit the ground running.”
The Premier League is the best league in the world.
—Matt Turner
Turner becomes the latest Palace connection to the United States, after Chris Richards returned home on pre-season tour this season to greet an ever-growing fanbase across the pond.
“I love Chris, he’s a great guy,” Turner said. “We play in the national team together, and we've stayed really close over the last few years, do a lot of travelling together and all that.
“I'm really excited. I'm disappointed that the other honorary American, Rob Holding, wasn't on that video as well!
“I went to university. I kind of lived that whole American, the real story. I went to high school, I went to college, and I almost even got a job in the real world.
“Football sort of worked out for me, so my story is pretty unique. But all the while, I was definitely a huge football fan, and the things that got me most excited were the Premier League games, Premier League Mornings on Saturdays and Sundays.
“Anybody who's a fan of the game in the US probably has a team that they support in England somewhere or in the UK somewhere.
“It's a pretty special thing to have watched grow over the years, and now to be a part of the league as a player and not just a fan is just remarkable.”
Turner kept a clean sheet at Selhurst Park with Nottingham Forest last season, but now looks forward to playing in SE25 with the fans behind him.
“You know when you're coming to play against Crystal Palace how great the support is,” he said. “Sometimes from the outside, you can be a little intimidated by it, you know? You know it's not going to be an easy place to come play.
“I'm looking forward to getting to know the fans, seeing what makes them tick. I think the fans can expect a lot of passion from me, somebody who really cares about the connection that I have with them, but also trying to win and give them the support that they deserve, because of how they support us.
“Being there for the fans, them being there for us. I think it's just going to be really special. I'm really, really looking forward to it.”