Crystal Palace prospect Hindolo Mustapha suffers knee injury

New York Times

5 days ago

Crystal Palace youngster Hindolo Mustapha is set to be out for six weeks with a knee injury.
The 18-year-old is yet to make a first-team appearance but is highly rated at Palace and was named last year's under-21 player of the season.
He has been training with Oliver Glasner's senior side since they returned for pre-season training, and played the second half of their 1-0 win over Millwall in Saturday's first game back, with his driving run and through ball setting up Jesurun Rak-Sakyi for the only goal.
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Mustapha was expected to be part of the group which will travel to Austria for a training camp and matches with Augsburg and Mainz at the end of this month — with Glasner having successfully convinced the Palace hierarchy to prioritise fitness over a more commercially lucrative longer trip.
The No 10 would have hoped to catch the eye of the coaching staff, having impressed for the Under-21 side last season and come close to making the seniors' substitutes' bench on occasion. His technical ability is considered to be excellent but, off the ball, there is thought to be work needed to further improve.
Rak-Sakyi cool with the finish 💪#CPFC pic.twitter.com/Mjo785atKn
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) July 12, 2025
It was his goal which opened the scoring in the 3-1 Premier League 2 play-off victory over arch-rivals Brighton & Hove Albion, while he scored an outstanding brace in a 6-0 thumping of Chelsea four days later to help put his team into the semi-finals.
Both of those goals against Chelsea were nominated for the club's goal of the season award.
In attendance for both games were scouts from the EFL, with Portsmouth manager John Mousinho keeping an eye on Mustapha with a view to a potential loan. League One Wycombe Wanderers, among other sides, also hold an interest.
He has been capped three times by Sierra Leone, scoring once. His last appearance came when he played 49 minutes in a 4-1 defeat by Ivory Coast in October last year.
Now the teenager faces a race to be fit before the transfer deadline on September 1 although, with his contract due to expire next summer, Palace are likely to only sanction a loan move if he signs a new deal.
It is a blow for Mustapha and Palace. He is a perfect fit for Glasner's system and that has benefitted him since the academy switched to it last season, also making strides to improve off the ball where his limitations are most apparent.
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The injury may impact fellow No 10 Asher Agbinone, who spent the second half of last season on loan with Gillingham, but was limited to six appearances for the League Two side due to his own injury. Palace may be more reluctant to send him out on loan early if Mustapha does not recover quicker than expected.
Right wing-back Danny Imray has joined Blackpool on a season-long loan. But there are decisions for Palace to make on the immediate future of their young players, whether to keep them as cover for the first-team or loan them out, with many having contracts which expire next summer.