Exeter City Triumphs in the Battle for Premier League Man

According to reports in the South London Press, Crystal Palace custodian Joe Whitworth is set to join League One club Exeter City on loan.

Whitworth, an England youth international, has been with Palace since 2016 after joining from fellow London club AFC Wimbledon. In March 2023, he made his Premier League debut against Brighton and Hove Albion, becoming Palace’s youngest ever custodian. The 19-year-old returned to the Emirates a week later, starting in place of Sam Johnstone and Vincente Guaita in a 4-1 loss to Arsenal.

The 20-year-old is expected to make his first loan move away from Selhurst Park, joining Gary Caldwell’s Exeter side. Following the departures of Viljami Sinisalo and Gary Woods, the Grecians need new goalkeepers.

Sinisalo, a fan favourite, has returned to Aston Villa following a successful loan spell, while experienced custodian Woods has left as his contract expired. That leaves Shaun MacDonald as their only custodian option, a player who has not yet made his League One debut despite being on the books of both Cheltenham Town and now Exeter.

The Devon-based club is once again looking to the loan market to improve their goalkeeping options for the upcoming 2024/25 League One season. Exeter will hope that highly-rated youngster Whitworth can fill that void for the upcoming season.

The Crystal Palace under-21s Player of the Season is finally set to gain some first-team experience on loan, after being denied the opportunity in the previous window due to the Eagles’ lack of goalkeeper options.

It was no secret that Exeter had a massive hole in their net after Sinisalo’s loan deal with the club expired. The Finnish international was outstanding all season, making an impressive 50 appearances across all competitions while missing only one league game.

Whitworth will face a lot of pressure to live up to the high expectations his predecessor set, as the Grecians continue down the same path that led to their success last season. From Whitworth’s perspective, a move south to Devon makes sense and could be a very wise move for the 20-year-old if he wants to advance in his career.

According to Alan Nixon’s Patreon, both Doncaster Rovers and Shrewsbury Town were interested in the goalkeeper’s services, and it appears that both Palace and Whitworth have chosen Exeter, a wise decision given the success of previous loanee keepers at St James Park.

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