Crystal Palace have taken surprisingly early action in the summer transfer window, securing a four-year deal to sign Oscar Mingueza.
A number of other clubs across Europe were also interested in Mingueza after an impressive season with Celta Vigo, including the likes of Juventus and Premier League champions Arsenal, writes Transfer News Blitz’s Stanley Cheeseman.
At first glance, Mingueza is an amazing option for Crystal Palace to compete for the right-back spot in the starting XI.
However, the La Masia graduate has an incredibly diverse set of skills, which allow him to take on positions elsewhere, such as left-back, centre-back, wing-back and even midfield.
This will massively aid Palace in their bid to go deep in cup competitions like the Europa League, with Mingueza offering fantastic squad depth for new boss Pierre Sage to fill any gaps in his team.
At 6ft tall, Mingueza was officially recorded by UEFA to hit speeds of 33km/h in the Europa League last season.
Comparable to Sterling
This is comparable to Raheem Sterling’s 33.1 at the Euro 2020 and Daniel James’ 33.5km/h, also at the Euro 2020 tournament.
Sage is known to experiment with his tactics, aiming for fluidity between them, as seen primarily during his time in charge of Lyon, where he used multiple formations to attack each game with a tailored system.
Mingueza’s versatility and comfort level with a shifting system will be incredibly useful for Sage, giving him an added freedom to tamper with tactics when necessary.
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Standout attributes
Spending years developing at one of the most renowned youth academies in the world, widely considered the best, Mingueza took on board a fantastic technical ability and a standout creativity on the ball.
His pace will provide great defensive cover and allow for vital recovery runs when called into action, suiting Pierre Sage’s potential intense pressing style seen at Lens and Lyon.
Lyon’s pressing noticeably improved once they gained defensive solidity with players who were able to cover when the press was beaten.
Over the last three years, Mingueza created 114 chances – a tally greater than any other defender in La Liga.
He completed the most throughballs of any defender last season, playing for Celta Vigo, with eight successfully completed.
Crystal Palace fans have seen players such as Marc Guehi and, more recently, Jaydee Canvot take on the responsibility to execute progressive passes from defence, particularly in their successful Europa Conference League campaign against teams who adopted a low block.
Oliver Glasner’s Palace struggled against opponents of this style, and Mingueza should help unlock defences with not only fast-paced progressive passing, but occasionally a shot of his own, with 15 shots in La Liga last season – five of them on target.
Mingueza himself said: “I like to play passes first time. I like to drive forward and cross the ball. I believe I can defend higher and use my speed.”
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Experience
At 27 years old, Mingueza has experience playing in the Europa League and was named in the Europa League 2025/26 team of the season as left-back in Celta Vigo’s run to the quarter-final.
During his time at Barcelona, Mingueza won the Copa del Ray in the 2020/21 season, making 39 appearances across La Liga, Champions League, Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup, playing in Ronald Koeman’s back three.
In the 2021 Olympics, Mingueza made two appearances for Spain after suffering from a hamstring injury in the opening fixture against Egypt, finishing 0-0.
He made a return in the quarter-final; however, after an intense sprint, the same hamstring issue surfaced, and he was substituted after only 10 minutes of being on the pitch.
European success
Mingueza first tasted European success at 18 years old, winning the UEFA Youth League, captaining Barcelona’s U19 side.
They beat Chelsea 3-0 with Palace legend Guehi starting alongside other stars such as Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi up top and former Crystal Palace loanee, Conor Gallagher on the bench.
Playing 11 matches in Celta Vigo’s Europa League campaign, Mingueza banked over 700 minutes of European experience, which will be vital in Palace’s upcoming season as they charter into unknown territory with their first-ever Europa League qualification.
Combined with roughly 300 minutes playing in the Champions League for Barcelona, Mingueza has recorded almost 1,000 minutes in European competitions.
With the addition of the Catalan defender and new manager Sage, Palace are already building a side with an ingrained European pedigree, taking the right steps forward to succeed this season and build upon their most successful era to date.
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