Crystal Palace may regret their decision to sell Freddie Woodman to Newcastle United in 2013, as he has now established himself as one of the best English goalkeepers outside of the Premier League.

The 25-year-old was a product of the academy at Selhurst Park but made the switch to the Magpies nearly 10 years ago, with the Toon no doubt paying a minimal fee for what would have been a 16-year-old at the time.

He progressed through Newcastle's academy, enjoying loan spells at the likes of Hartlepool, Crawley Town and Kilmarnock before he began to knock on the first-team door at the Toon.

During his time with Kilmarnock, the young 'keeper earned the praise of his former manager Lee Clark, who said: “I’d been watching Freddie and I’d known him from a young age. I knew he was an outstanding young keeper and had all the attributes."

Despite some superb performances on loan with Swansea City in the second tier, with whom he reached the Championship playoff final in 2021 having kept an incredible 20 clean sheets, Woodman wasn't deemed good enough to feature in the Premier League for Newcastle.

He was sold to Preston North End this summer and has picked up where he had left off in the Championship with the Swans, keeping 10 clean sheets in his first 17 league appearances for Ryan Lowe's side.

This comfortably sees him leading the race for the Golden Glove in that division, and should he continue his fine form with the Lilywhites, it would not be a surprise to see him earn a move back to the Premier League in the near future.

While Palace boast two top goalkeepers in Vicente Guaita and Sam Johnstone, the Spaniard is now 35, so Woodman could have been an excellent long-term replacement had he remained with the Eagles nearly a decade ago.

 

It is impossible to say whether the shot-stopper would have enjoyed the same career path had he remained at Selhurst Park, but there is little doubt that the former England under-21 man has a lot of talent and could easily feature again in the top flight.

Therefore, Palace may well be having nightmares over their decision to let the 25-year-old leave.