Crystal Palace set to land Nottingham Forest blow thanks to £7bn ex Chelsea bidder

Crystal Palace have been handed a lifeline in their fight to play in the Europa League next season amid reports of a bid to buy the minority stake owned by John Textor today.

The Eagles qualified for a place in the Europa League next season thanks to their triumph in the FA Cup. Oliver Glasner’s side lifted the trophy having beaten Manchester City at Wembley Stadium last month in a historic day for the club.

However, controversy has been abundant since then. Textor, who owns a 43% stake in Crystal Palace, is also a majority owner of French outfit Lyon. The Ligue 1 side have also qualified for the Europa League and Uefa rules stipulate that two teams under the same ownership cannot compete in the same competition.

Woody Johnson submits Crystal Palace bid

The London club have been trying to prove that Textor does not have a strong involvement in the club and were set to find out the outcome of a Uefa decision at the end of the month. However, Sky Sports now reports that New York Jets owner Woody Johnson has launched a bid to buy Textor’s stake.

The 78-year-old, who according to Bloomberg has a net worth of $9.22 billion or £6.8 billion, served as US ambassador to the UK during Donald Trump’s first administration. His interest in Crystal Palace was first reported last month.

Textor had been trying to sell his stake and could have put his shares into a blind trust by March 1 to avoid the Europa League issue. However, Crystal Palace’s involvement in the Europa League next season looked an unlikely possibility at that time.

Johnson purchased the New York Jets in 2000 for £468 million, the highest price paid for a New York professional sports team at that time. In March 2022, the businessman made a £2 million bid to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich having reportedly grown fond of the Blues when spending time in London.

Steve Parish owns around 10% of Crystal Palace and is the face of many day-to-day decisions - coming down to pitchside after the horror challenge on striker Jean-Philippe Mateta in the FA Cup clash against Millwall. Americans David Blitzer and Josh Harris own 36%.

Nottingham Forest see Europa League hopes dashed

Crystal Palace’s Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest had been leading the charge for Uefa to ban them from the Europa League next season. Forest, who are to take part in the Europa Conference League next season, would take the place of the Eagles if the team were banned.

Forest had complained of a conflict of interest given Textor’s dual ownership and wrote to Uefa to voice their concerns. Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis put all his shares into a blind trust and promised no involvement in decision making at the City Ground to comply with Uefa rules - he also owns a stake in Greek side Olympiakos.

Should Johnson help Crystal Palace by taking the shares out of Textor’s hand, that would kill any Nottingham Forest hopes of taking a place in the Europa League via the Eagles’ disqualification.

In other news, Crystal Palace must beat Arsenal and Man Utd to £19m transfer to flex European clout - opinion.