Exequiel Palacios Joins Town as World Cup Winner
Town have landed a World Cup winner – and Gary O’Neil can barely hide his delight.
Exequiel Palacios completed his move from Bayer Leverkusen last night, the Argentina midfielder signing a contract that runs to the summer of 2030 in what is likely to go down as one of the biggest deals in the club’s history.
The fee tells its own story. Town will pay €22.5 million (£19.2 million) up front, with a further €5 million (£4.3 million) in add-ons, while Leverkusen have secured a 10 per cent sell-on clause. This is not a short-term punt. It’s a long-term pillar.
“An incredible signing”
O’Neil did not bother to play it down.
“He’s a talented boy and has obviously had some huge success over the last few years, club and national level,” the Town boss said. “An incredible signing by the football club, the work that went in from everybody, all summer really, to try and attract people to the project and to what we’re trying to build.”
The manager spoke of a growing belief around the club, fuelled not just by headline arrivals but by the core that dragged Town here in the first place.
“The Dara O’Sheas, Jacob Greaves, Leif Davis, many, many more,” he said, name-checking the players who have carried the club through the last eight weeks of pre-season and into the Premier League. “The good work that’s gone on over the last eight weeks from everybody involved has left us in a place where we believe we can do something special this year.”
Now they add a World Cup winner into that mix.
United debut on the cards
Supporters will not have to wait long to see him.
“I’m sure you’ll see him on Sunday. I’m sure you’ll see him,” O’Neil said, pointing straight at the trip to Manchester United as the likely first glimpse of Palacios in a Town shirt.
The transfer itself had started to feel inevitable as Town kept coming back with bids in recent weeks. O’Neil insists he never doubted the outcome.
“No, I knew he was coming,” he said. “Probably the more challenging bit was agreeing club-to-club, I would guess. The moment I spoke to the boy, I could tell he was desperate to come and play for the football club, which shows how far the club has come and the journey it’s been on, and everyone who has played a part in it should be really proud.”
Then came the warning. This is not the destination.
“But it doesn’t stop, we don’t rest at that, this is only the beginning now, so we need to make sure that we use all of this to continue to push and keep trying to raise the ceiling higher than it’s been.”
Built for a 38-game fight
O’Neil sees Palacios as another vital layer in a squad that must withstand a long, unforgiving season.
“He’s a fantastic addition, excited to work with him, excited for the group that we add another layer of strength to us, and we’ll need it,” he said. “It’s a long 38-game season, cup games as well. We’re going to need as many bodies as we can.
“We’re trying to make sure we’re well covered in every position with quality, with experience, with youth, with athleticism, trying to cover everything that the Premier League will test and Pala gives us real quality in the middle of the pitch.”
That midfield, already reshaped, now has a player who has lifted both a Bundesliga title and a World Cup. Town are not shopping in the bargain bin anymore.
Why Palacios chose Town
So why would a 27-year-old at the heart of Leverkusen’s recent success choose a newly promoted side?
“He wants to test himself in the Premier League, and I understand why, it's the best league in the world, the most challenging league in the world,” O’Neil said.
“As I say, he's obviously had huge successes. He's an unbelievably talented footballer, but now he wanted to come and test himself in the Premier League.
“And we spoke to him about the project, we spoke to him about how the team was going to play, how he fitted it, how his role would help us. And we had a real good alignment on how we felt we could move forward together as a football club and as a talented footballer.”
Tactically, he will start a step behind. Emotionally, he is already there.
“We’re going to do a lot of work with him, the lads have had seven, eight weeks of good work and understanding, tactical stuff and obviously Palacios will be slightly behind on that. But he definitely brings a desire to win.
“He’s South American, I've worked with a lot of them. They bring an unbelievable enthusiasm for the game, passion, desperate to win. So all of those qualities that we're going to need, he brings.”
Statement signing – on and off the pitch
Does a World Cup winner walking through the door send a message to the rest of the division? Does it help lure more players before the window shuts on Tuesday?
“I don’t know,” O’Neil said, swerving the narrative. “I try and make a statement at three o’clock on Saturday, if I can, that’s the biggest opportunity for me and the team to let people know where we’re at.
“The other stuff people will read into, or not. I think our exam paper comes every weekend when the whistle blows and we see where we’re at.
“There’s just a real focus and determination to go there and back up what has been a decent start for us.”
The manager’s own journey to Town underlines why players are buying into the project.
Ambition that sells itself
O’Neil could have returned to the Premier League earlier. He chose not to.
“I spoke about my opportunity to come here in the summer, and obviously there were opportunities for me in the past to return to the Premier League. But they didn’t feel quite right,” he explained.
“I was in a job that I was really enjoying in France and I wasn’t going to jump out for anything but the ambition that this place has, the support they give coaches and the direction of travel.”
Players see the same thing.
“And I think you’re seeing that from players as well, for a newly promoted club to be able to attract some of the players we have, proven Premier League players in Issa [Diop] and Sasa [Lukic] and some players from all around the world.
“So I’m really grateful for the owners’ backing. I know they’re committed to making this club as special as they can.
“And we’ve had a really good go in the window to make ourselves competitive, which is needed, by the way, if you look at the recent history of teams that are promoted from the Championship. You need to improve your squad fairly significantly to give yourself the best chance of being competitive in the Premier League.”
Town have done that. Now a World Cup winner walks into their midfield and straight into Old Trafford on Sunday.
The project O’Neil keeps talking about is no longer theoretical. The league will soon find out exactly how serious it is.
