Crystal Palace fans will be sad to have waved goodbye to Eberechi Eze (£7.5m), but in Yeremy Pino (£6.0m), they have recruited an exciting replacement with an attacking upside.
Pino signed a five-year deal last week after moving from Villarreal for a fee in excess of £21.6m.
He has been priced at £6.0m in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), but how will he impact the upcoming season?
We take a look in this Scout Report.
PINO INJURY LATEST
Firstly, it is important to mention that Pino has pulled out of Spain’s squad for the Nations League because of an injury.
Glasner will face the media next week before Crystal Palace’s match against Sunderland, so we can expect an update on the Spaniard’s fitness in advance of Gameweek 4.
YEREMY PINO: A BRIEF HISTORY
| Season | Apps | Mins | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 2 | 160 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024/25 | 34 | 1,950 | 4 | 8 |
| 2023/24 | 7 | 480 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022/23 | 36 | 2,464 | 4 | 6 |
| 2021/22 | 31 | 1,685 | 6 | 4 |
| 2020/21 | 21 | 785 | 3 | 1 |
The 22-year-old from Gran Canaria came through the Las Palmas academy before joining Villarreal in 2017, where he broke into the first team under Unai Emery in the 2020/21 season.
He impressed in his first campaign with the Yellow Submarine, becoming the youngest player to win the Europa League at the age of 18 when Villarreal beat Manchester United in the final.
An anterior cruciate ligament injury kept him out for much of 2023/24 and affected his start to last season, but he managed 25 La Liga starts and was back to his best in the final weeks, producing three of his four goals and three of his eight assists for the season in his final seven top-flight appearances.
Pino has been capped on 15 occasions and scored three international goals. He helped Spain win the UEFA Nations League in 2022/23 and came runner-up in the same tournament twice.
PLAYING STYLE
Palace fans and FPL managers alike are in for a treat when it comes to Pino’s quality. He will get fans off their feet with his trickery on the wing and should reward managers with his ability to produce attacking returns.
According to FBref over the last 365 days, he is in the top one per cent of midfielders across Europe’s big five domestic leagues for assists, expected assists, touches in the attacking penalty area and progressive passes received per 90 minutes played.
Pino tends to play wide and use his technique and pace to beat players down the flank. He can play on either side but has played for most of his career on the right wing
Above: Pino touch heatmap in 2024/25, via Sofascore
Standing at only 5ft 8in, Pino is no aerial monster. Neither is he particularly adept at progressive passes or interceptions, so we are not expecting much in the way of defensive contribution (DefCon) points. But he offers plenty of attacking threat with his pace in transition, dribbling ability and eye for a through-ball.
Although nominally a right winger, he creates plenty of chances from the other flank, which suggests he can step into Eze’s shoes with the minimum of fuss. Since 2022/23, 11 of his 13 assists in LaLiga have come from the left side or centre of the pitch.
Like Eze, Pino is also a set-piece taker. He took nine of Villarreal’s corners last season, although he was not on free-kicks. The absence of Eze suggests that this is an area in which the Spaniard can also flourish.
WHERE DOES PINO FIT IN AT PALACE?
We have already captured a glimpse of Pino in action for the Eagles, as he came on for the last 20 minutes of Palace’s 3-0 win at Aston Villa.
In that match, he came on for Will Hughes (£4.9m) and played on the right side of midfield. In his short cameo, he had 12 touches in the opponents’ half, delivered five passes into the final third, executed two successful dribbles, took one corner and created a big chance.
However, as mentioned, he can equally play on the left flank or in the No 10 role befitting of the shirt number he now wears.
IS PINO WORTH BUYING IN FPL?
Palace are a tough, well-organised side capable of providing Pino with the service from which he can cause problems for defences.
His international pedigree and performances for a Villarreal side that have constantly challenged the established order for a top-four place across his time there suggest he has the quality to thrive in a side with one of the shrewdest head coaches in the division.
The only foreseeable fly in the ointment is fitness. Pino is not the most powerfully robust athlete, has already suffered a serious knee injury and will be tested to his physical limits in the notoriously demanding Premier League.
After returning from his torn ACL at the beginning of last season, he started 25 of Villarreal’s 38 league games and played their opening two fixtures in the 2025-26 campaign. However, he has already picked up an ankle injury in the 20 minutes he played on his debut at Villa Park, the severity of which is as yet unknown.
Assuming it is nothing serious, Pino could come straight into a team that has started this season like a train and which has a very amenable-looking fixture run to boot. However, a place on the bench against Sunderland seems more probable, considering the aforementioned fitness issues, along with the fact that Daichi Kamada (£5.0m) delivered a confident performance at Villa Park on Sunday.
Nevertheless, Palace’s No 10 has the ability, pedigree and platform to provide the bullets for Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) and Ismaïla Sarr (£6.5m), and even score himself. Price at £6.0m, he could represent a bargain differential for FPL managers once settled.
