William Gallas reveals he came close to signing for Crystal Palace after Tottenham spell

Options | William Gallas could have joined Crystal Palace in 2013
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Vaishali Bhardwaj2 August 2017

William Gallas has revealed how he came close to signing for Crystal Palace following his stint at Tottenham but saw a move to Selhurst Park fall through last minute.

The defender spent three years at White Hart Lane following spells with London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal before weighing up whether to stay in the capital and move to Palace in 2013.

Then-Eagles manager Ian Holloway invited Gallas to the club's training ground but, when a potential transfer collapsed, Gallas opted against staying in England and instead joined Perth Glory.

After a one-year spell in Australia, the defender hung up his boots but he has now admitted he came close to playing for a fourth London side in Palace - and revealed West Ham were in the running for his signature too.

In an interview in the September edition of FourFourTwo, Gallas said: "I think my agent actually did talk with [West Ham], but I am not 100 per cent sure.

"What I clearly recall, though, is that I had a meeting with Crystal Palace in the summer of 2013. Ian Holloway was manager at the time and we met at the training ground to discuss a deal, but it didn’t come off in the end.

"During the same summer I tried to go back to Marseille, to offer them my experience, but they didn’t offer me a deal despite me saying that I would halve my salary.

"I also spoke to Claudio Ranieri, who was the manager of Monaco. He seemed happy to sign me but later explained that the board had ruled it out. In the end I signed for Perth Glory."