Crystal Palace ended their nine-game winless run in the Premier League against Brighton & Hove Albion, but Oliver Glasner's side have work to do if they are to challenge for a European finish once again.
The wheels have come off in recent weeks, with Glasner's relationship with the fans deteriorating after he declared midway through the January transfer window that he would be stepping down at the end of the season.
This while captain Marc Guehi's transfer to Manchester City was being finalised. Jean-Philippe Mateta would have followed suit, but for his deadline-day medical with AC Milan to have scuppered the move away he was so desperate for.
Mateta will probably leave at the end of the season, with the Eagles having signed Jorgen Strand Larsen from Wolves for a club-record £48m fee.
Crystal Palace winter 2026 ins and outs (timeless deadline day)-1
But Mateta's not the only one, with Daichi Kamada set to move on.
Why Kamada is set to leave Crystal Palace
Kamada, 29, joined Crystal Palace in July 2024, signing after his contract with Serie A side Lazio expired. He brought with him a wealth of experience, a shrewd playmaking ability and a strange career quirk to have only played for clubs with a bird crested on their shirt.
Kamada-Adam-Wharton-Crystal-Palace
An intelligent and industrious midfielder, Kamada played a key role in last year's success, winning the FA Cup and then the Community Shield in August 2025. In the Premier League, he aided the Londoners in their recording of 53 points, a club record in the top flight.
However, with his contract running until the end of the term, chairman Steve Parish has not instigated discussions over a renewal.
Some fans have met this with disappointment; he's a popular figure, after all. Kamada has sunk into a deeper role than his advanced midfield berths of previous clubs, and he has made 2.7 tackles per Premier League game this season, also winning 55% of his duels.
Having started 14 matches, it's clear that Kamada needs replacing, and while recruiting a new midfielder is bound to be on the agenda, Parish may find he already has the perfect replacement.
Parish already has the perfect Kamada replacement
Crystal Palace have no shortage of talented midfielders. Adam Wharton, for example, is one of the sharpest passers in the Premier League, routinely linked with the biggest outfits around.
However, Cheick Doucoure finds himself as something of a forgotten man, and this having once been the talk of the town at Selhurst Park.
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Crystal Palace midfielder Cheick Doucoure.
Doucoure, 26, has not played this season due to injury, but you'd have to scale back to the 2022/23 campaign to find a year that the Mali international could describe as auspicious on a personal level.
Fitness setbacks have swallowed him in recent years, but he was described as "the complete holding midfielder" by former Palace boss Patrick Vieira and could become a major player once again if cementing his place on the training ground when he returns.
Reporter Ed Aarons confirmed toward the end of January that Doucoure "took part in light team training", but he is still a considerable distance away from returning to match fitness following knee surgery one year ago.
Cheick Doucoure's Crystal Palace Stats (Prem)
Season
25/26
24/25
23/24
22/23
Of course, all this balances on the basis that Doucoure will find fitness once again after several agonising years of setbacks, but there's no doubting his talent and the presence he brings to the Palace midfield when firing on all cylinders.
Indeed, Liverpool wanted him back in August 2023, before moving for Bayern Munich's Ryan Gravenberch. Parish's valuation likely threw the Anfield side off, with journalist Dom Smith remarking that "Palace value him at around £70m".
In this, Doucoure stood as Palace's original Wharton, a high-profile centre-midfielder wanted by the cream of the crop.
Certainly, he can effectively replace Kamada. During that impressive debut season in the Premier League, Doucoure won four duels and 2.3 tackles on average per game, also completing 71% of his dribbles.
That blend of combativeness and athleticism are exactly what Palace need. He is a progressive and influential player, making three assists from his deep-lying berth.
Doucoure has a long way to go, but if he finds some fortune over the coming months, he could be in line to step in for Kamada as the Japanese midfielder moves on this summer.
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Crystal Palace need a new hero to lead them back into the ascendancy.