From Niche Cache. Nice move for I-P Riley.
We spend weeks wondering whether Ria Percival is going to be signed on a permanent basis by Crystal Palace, which she very well may still do, but if she does then by the time they finally announce it she’ll probably have been beaten to the mark by one of her World Cup teammates...
We spend weeks wondering whether Ria Percival is going to be signed on a permanent basis by Crystal Palace, which she very well may still do, but if she does then by the time they finally announce it she’ll probably have been beaten to the mark by one of her World Cup teammates...
The Guardian: “Crystal Palace are poised to sign the New Zealand forward Indiah-Paige Riley as they accelerate efforts to strengthen their squad after promotion to the Women’s Super League. A fee has been agreed with PSV Eindhoven and the 22‑year‑old has agreed personal terms with Palace, who have not made a signing since they won the Championship to secure a place in the top division for the first time.”
It might not even be a stretch to say that Percival played a part in this transfer, possibly by a direct suggestions though almost certainly by affiliation – if you’re looking for scouting vid ahead of a loan for Percy then the World Cup is surely where you start and IPR just happened to have an excellent tournament. Since then IPR has spent a quality year with PSV Eindhoven scoring seven goals in 19 Eredivisie matches mostly as a left-winger. She’d already made 52 appearances for Fortuna Hjørring in Denmark’s top division prior to that, plus 30 games for Brisbane Roar across two stings. Pretty busy for someone who doesn’t even turn 23 years old until December. By then she’ll probably have a few WSL matches under her belt too.
Crystal Palace have just been promoted up to the top division (thanks in part to a six-month loan move for Ria Percival) but even promoted teams often have trouble retaining their players due to shorter contracts that allow more established WSL clubs to come swooping in. Palace did announce a few re-signings at the start of July but nothing else until after this IPR reporting, though they have since unveiled Danish defender Katrine Veje and American goalkeeper Shae Yanez. Indi Riley will follow soon. Maybe Ria Percival too but we’ll not make assumptions. Either way, Riley signifies yet another kiwi player moving to a major European league this transfer window. She was already in a big league, now she’s off to an even bigger one… where she’ll follow in the footsteps of Ali Riley, Rebekah Stott, and Macey Fraser as kiwi women to have drawn transfer fees.