Van Aanholt says Palace feels like home

It takes some players a little time to slot in at a new club but not Patrick van Aanholt – he claims he has felt right at home at Crystal Palace since day one.

Van Aanholt moved to Selhurst Park from Sunderland in the January transfer window for an initial fee of £9million, rising to £14million.

Just 24 hours after signing, the left-back made his debut against Bournemouth and scored his first goal for the club in the 1-0 win over Middlesbrough at the end of February.

Photo credit: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

And the Dutchman is convinced that the environment at Palace, as well as being a first-team regular at Sunderland for most of the campaign, made the transition to the Eagles an easy one.

“It’s hard to come to a new team and fit in straight away, sometimes you need time,” said van Aanholt.

“However I signed on the Monday and played on the Tuesday and didn’t even train with the team, but because I had been playing every game at Sunderland I was fit so that made it a bit easier for me.

“It has felt like home since I’ve signed and the players have welcomed me. I knew a couple of players beforehand in Jeff [Schlupp], and [Yohan] Cabaye from when he was at Newcastle, as well as Andros Townsend, who I used to play against for Chelsea against Tottenham in the youth team.

“I have my first goal now too so hopefully there is many more to come. It was great to score; I have the freedom to go forward and I started the move myself and finished it with my right foot so I was very happy with that.”