Crystal Palace have appointed Pierre Sage as their new manager following the departure of Oliver Glasner.
Sage, who guided Lens to a French Cup win and second-place finish behind Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, has signed a three-year contract pending confirmation of his visa.
The Frenchman took charge of Lens in June 2025 and was named Ligue 1 manager of the season following his remarkable achievements.
Sage was under contract for another two years at Lens and owner Joseph Oughourlian was reluctant to let the former Lyon manager go.
However, sources told ESPN that Oughourlian was aware that Sage wanted to join the south London club and manage in the Premier League next season.
The appointment comes after Glasner announced in January he would be leaving Selhurst Park in the summer.
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Palace identified Sage as the strongest candidate for the job when Andoni Iraola became Liverpool head coach.
Sage will take charge following a golden Glasner era where the Austrian won three historic trophies in 12 months.
In 2025, Palace won the FA Cup when beating Manchester City in the final at Wembley, Eberechi Eze scoring the game’s only goal.
That summer, they went on to win again at Wembley, taking home the Community Shield thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Liverpool.
While Palace was kicked out of the Europa League after a breach of UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules — American businessman John Textor owned 43% of the club alongside a majority stake in French side Lyon — Glasner and co were granted a place in the Conference League.
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They went on to win that competition, securing an historic European crown for the club by beating Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig.
In a letter to fans after his departure, Glasner said winning that trophy was the “perfect ending” to his time in South London.
Prior to his short stint at Lens, Sage took over as interim manager at Lyon in November 2023, and his role was made permanent in January, as he guided the side to Europa League qualification.
He was sacked by Lyon in January 2025 after a poor run of results.
Information from ESPN’s Julien Laurens contributed to this story.
