Sage on what each of his new signings will bring
Pierre Sage was asked about the impact Crystal Palace's transfer deadline day business will have on his squad, as the Eagles prepare to face Fulham on Saturday (15:00 BST).
- Click here for the Manager's latest Team News update
- Squad numbers revealed for our deadline day arrivals
The Eagles managed to bring in four new players before the window closed, with defenders Honest Ahanor and Ben Chilwell, midfielder Quinten Timber and attacker Darío Osorio all arriving.
They joined prior arrivals Dwight McNeil, the returning Evann Guessand, Óscar Mingueza, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Zavier Gozo, Anan Khalaili and Axel Disasi as Palace completed their summer transfer window business.
It leaves with Sage with options across the pitch and could give him some tough team selection decisions to take over the coming weeks, starting with Saturday's trip to Craven Cottage.
The Palace Manager spoke during his pre-match press conference about what his new recruits will bring to the team.
"Honest [Ahanor] the centre-back we signed because we need one, especially a lefty [left-footed]," Sage said. "He's a young player with a lot of perspective. We will see what he is able to do."
"With [Quinten] Timber, we needed this kind of player. We have four players in that position, but they are all similar. He is maybe more box-to-box.
"For Osorio, we need a player with his speed in this position. He is able to shoot from far and he has scored a lot of goals like this.
"And for Ben [Chilwell], he knew the club. He knows the city.
"I know him because he was one of my opponents last year [at Lens] with Strasbourg. I like the player. I like the guy.
"He will give us experience, he's a really good player. He can play two positions. He can play wing-back, but he played centre-back a lot of the time last year.
"He will give us a lot of confidence as well, because he is a happy guy."
When asked how long he thinks it will take the new signings to gel together, Sage stated that every player is different and that he will assess, on a case-by-case basis, when each player is ready.
"Sometimes the player is ready because they have already played and trained with their [former] club," he explained. "Sometimes they need the time.
"It depends on the case. The most important thing is to put in the player who is able to win.
"That’s my job, to choose this player."
Fulham v Crystal Palace
- Saturday, 5th September
- 15:00 BST
- Premier League
- Craven Cottage
- Live audio commentary on Palace TV+.