On the deadline day, the player was “ready to pack his bags” to join with Crystal Palace. *

On the day of the transfer deadline, it seems that Crystal Palace was on the verge of selling Sam Johnstone and had set their sights on Jean Butez to take his place.

This information is provided by Sacha Tavolieri, who details the events that transpired behind the scenes, beginning with Matz Sels’ move to Nottingham Forest.

He claims that the Tricky Trees ‘got stopped on a critical point of detail’ when they were trying to sign Crystal Palace’s Johnstone, taking to X, the previous Twitter platform.

The Royal Antwerp custodian “had been chosen” by the Selhurst Park club to replace their departing custodian, so if that had gone through, it would have sparked a game of musical chairs.
The Belgian team, who was “ready to pack his bags for London,” was “aware” of everything and was only “awaiting” Crystal Palace’s offer for their custodian.

But once the Johnstone deal collapsed, Nottingham Forest had to go elsewhere. They ultimately decided to pursue Sels, their third choice behind Koen Casteels, who it seemed wasn’t being let go by VfL Wolfsburg either.

All in all, a great deal of effort from all parties concerned for very little return, as Butez never received the opportunity to join the Premier League, and Johnstone remained at Crystal Palace.