Crystal Palace co-owner and chairman Steve Parish says Ismaila Sarr was never going to get his move to Liverpool with the money the Reds offered. The Crystal Palace winger was highly sought-after in the summer transfer window, with the 28-year-old indicating a preference to make the switch to Anfield. Ismaila Sarr wanted to make the switch to Merseyside in the summer transfer windowGETTYGalatasaray had also reportedly shown interest. In the last week of the window, the Merseyside club explored a move for Sarr, in addition to Victor Munoz and Bradley Barcola, as they sought to bolster their wing depth following the departure of Mohamed Salah.But their valuation fell far below what the Eagles would entertain, amid their reluctance to sell. After all, he was their top scorer last season having netted 21 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions in a campaign which saw Palace win the Community Shield and Conference League.In a recent interview with The Athletic, Palace chairman and co-owner Parish explained that the club would have tried to have facilitated a move, per Sarr’s request, if the circumstances were different. “It’s unfortunate with Ismaila, but that wasn’t really a situation that was of our doing,” Parish said. “A club (Liverpool) came in and, with the amount of money they bid, they couldn’t seriously think in that market it was going to get done at that level, and then they didn’t come back in for him.“If you’re selling players for £90million and then you want to bid us half of that for the replacement, it’s fine, you can do it. I’m not criticising anybody for doing it. But it’s not going to happen.“You could understand Ismaila would have liked to go and if it wasn’t five days before the end of the window and the money was right, then we would have tried to facilitate it.”Sarr’s agent, former Premier League footballer Diomansy Kamara, also went public on multiple occasions in an effort to force Palace to allow his client to leave south London.“I don’t care what (Kamara) thinks in the context of accusations against us,” Parish continued. “If any football club gets a bid for their top scorer five days before the end of a transfer window, that’s going to be a difficult deal to get done. Parish revealed that Liverpool’s offer for Sarr was far below the Eagles’ valuationGettySarr was Palace’s top scorer last season, helping them to win Conference LeagueGetty“I would say to those representatives that the good ones would be managing those expectations with the player and not making it everybody else’s fault.“It’s their job to get that bid earlier. They get paid by the player and the club and are there to help everybody oil the wheels. It doesn’t help anybody when you go in the media and make unfounded accusations.”Huge summer overhaulAfter failing to land the Sengalese international, Liverpool ultimately blocked the £80million transfer of Cody Gakpo to Manchester City. The Citizens then pivoted for Iliman Ndiaye, who, at the time, looked to be on his way to join Tottenham.It was a summer of huge transition following the departure of Oliver Glasner as manager, and the arrival of Pierre Sage as his replacement, with a myriad of outgoings, including star defender Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea. Keeping hold of Sarr was huge was therefore a huge deal, as was striker Jean-Philippe Mateta remaining with the team despite his best efforts to leave the club. Mateta is also still a Palace player seven months after his move to Milan fell throughGettyBoth have featured just once each so far in the 2026/27 Premier League season due to injury, but Parish revealed that he has no issue with welcoming both players back into the side when they are fit to do so. “I don’t understand anybody that gives any of these players a hard time,” he stated. “I love Ismaila and JP and what they’ve done for this club.“The fact that they, in their very short playing life, at some point want to go and do something else, is perfectly natural. The fans should never let that influence what they think about a player.“You can’t say when those boys go on a pitch for Crystal Palace that they’ve ever given anything less than a thousand per cent or that they don’t love and care because I know they do.“Fans need to understand these guys are 100 per cent focused on doing their job… They’re still giving it everything, as I know they will. I would counsel everybody to worry about these things a bit less and give them all the love they deserve for what they do.“Hopefully we can work to find a good conclusion for those players, whatever that is — contracts or moves.”