Crystal Palace have announced the signing of Maxence Lacroix for a reported fee of £18 million, including add-ons, from VfL Wolfsburg on a five year deal.
The 24-year-old is the Eagles fourth summer signing, after the arrivals of Chadi Riad, Daichi Kamada, and Ismaila Sarr.
Oliver Glasner had been keen to add Lacroix to his squad after previously working with the Frenchman during his own managerial stint in charge of Wolfsburg.
The 24-year-old had less than a year remaining on his contract, with Palace coveting the central defender all summer, but stepped up their pursuit after the departure of Joachim Andersen to Fulham for a reported £30 million.
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Relationship with Glasner and career so far
Lacroix signed his first professional contract for Sochaux-Montbeliard in August 2017 after coming through the youth ranks.
The central defender made his professional debut for the club in a 1–0 Ligue 2 win over FC Lorient on 22 December 2018, at the age of 18.
Lacroix would go on to make 28 appearances for the Sochaux before making the switch to Germany to join current Palace manager Glasner at Wolfsburg in August 2020.
Under Glasner, Lacroix would be entrusted as a first team regular, making 36 appearances in his first season at the club, also featuring in the Europa League qualification stages before Wolfsburg were knocked out by AEK Athens.
The season would end in success with Wolfsburg finishing fourth in the Bundesliga to qualify for the Champions League, but after a reported falling out with sporting director Jörg Schmadtke, Glasner would depart Die Wölfe.
Lacroix would continue to be a prominent member of the Wolfsburg side under new manager Mark van Bommel, making 36 appearances, including featuring in every match of Wolfsburg's group stage Champions League exit.
The Frenchman would also remain a key figure over the coming seasons when Niko Kovač was appointed manager of Wolfsburg in May 2022 before departing at the end of the previous season.
In total Lacroix made 130 appearances for Wolfsburg, emerging as a standout defender in the Bundesliga. The defender has also featured for several of the France youth teams, but is still yet to make his debut for the senior side.
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Playing Style
Lacroix is renowned for his pace and aggressiveness. The defender will look to step out of the line to engage with attackers, applying pressure to try win the ball, before using his speed to recover.
As part of a back three at Palace, it will enable Lacroix to continue at his aggressive best, with sufficient defensive cover.
The speed of Lacroix also enables him to cover a large defensive area, with the Frenchman excelling as a one-on-one defender, ranking in the 85th percentile for percentage of dribblers tackled per FBref.
This skillset would suggest Lacroix would suit a wide centre-back position within the Palace defensive line, as Glasner looks to add further pace and experience to the Eagles defence.
With Andersen leaving, Palace have lost a very capable ball player, with the Danish international particularly excelling at his long range passing.
Lacroix has showcased good ability on the ball throughout his career, and is comfortable playing short, but also possesses great passing range, completing 67.5% of his long range passes over the past year, attempting 8.13 per 90 minutes, per FBref.
This enables Palace to still possess the ability to be direct in transition, with Lacroix also having the necessary skill to build up in possession.
Lacroix brings European pedigree to South London, and will hope to thrive after reuniting with the manager who gave the defender his first opportunity amongst Europe's elite.
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The Palace transfer window so far
The Eagles have experienced a turbulent summer with several rumours of outgoings circulating around Selhurst Park.
The talented Michael Olise departed to Bayern Munich, after the German giants met the Frenchman's £50 million release clause.
Andersen then departed for Fulham, whilst Jordan Ayew left the South London club in a reported £8 million deal to sign for newly promoted Leicester.
Palace have looked to bolster their squad, whilst replacing outgoings. Young defender Riad signed for a reported £14 million, Japanese international Kamada signed on a free transfer from Lazio, and Sarr also joined for a reported £12.5 million from Olympique Marseille.
A busy final week of the transfer window has seen Palace linked with signing striker Nketiah from Arsenal for £30 million, including add-ons, as well as reportedly being close to a loan signing for Trevor Chalobah from Chelsea, plus the addition of Lacroix.
The Eagles are also in the market for a new back-up goalkeeper, with Matt Turner looking set to join on loan from Nottingham Forest, after Sam Johnstone departed to Wolves in a £10 million transfer.
Despite being active in the transfer market, the Eagles are reportedly still in the market for wing-back cover with the transfer window dwindling to a close.
