Former Motherwell head coach Jens Berthel Askou has emerged as a leading candidate for a vacant role at a top English Premier League club just 173 days after leaving Fir Park.

Berthel Askou, 44, made a major impact in his sole season at Motherwell last year, helping the club qualify for European football, while setting a new club record for the most clean sheets in a single season during an impressive 2025–26 campaign.

His success in the Scottish Premiership saw him linked to numerous top jobs, with Celtic heavily reported to be interested in his services, before Ligue 1 outfit Toulouse swooped in to lure the Danish manager across the channel just days after Motherwell’s season came to an end.

Speaking last month, Stephen Welsh hailed the impact the boss had on his career after the ex-Motherwell loanee made his Scotland debut last month, saying he was "the biggest influence on my career by a distance.”

Just ten games into his spell at Stadium de Toulouse, Berthel Askou’s reputation has continued to flourish after a steady start to his time in France, with his side sitting 12th in Ligue 1, and he has now been understood to have caught the attention of Conference League champions Crystal Palace, who are understood to be on the verge of sacking Pierre Sage after a difficult start to the season at Selhurst Park.

The former RC Lens manager replaced Oliver Glasner in the summer, but is currently bottom of the English Premier League, having won just two of their opening 10 league games. While Sage’s departure has yet to be formally confirmed, reports say he has effectively been dismissed by Crystal Palace after the 3–1 home defeat to Liverpool at the weekend, with the club just finalising compensation terms.

Former Brentford and Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank has been installed as the leading candidate to replace the outgoing Frenchman, Berthel Askou has emerged as a manager contender for the role, with reports claiming the Eagles are ready to cast their net far and wide to find a manager that can drag them out of the relegation mire.

Despite being installed as the joint second favourite for the Selhurst Park role alongside Sean Dyche at 11/2 (Betfair), the ex-Motherwell boss has been told to turn down any approach by former Celtic striker and current TV pundit Chris Sutton. The 53-year-old believes the club’s immediate threat of relegation could see him deviate away from his footballing principles and has warned him that the time is wrong for a move to the English Premier League.

"It's the wrong time for him to go in," Sutton told BBC. "In terms of the way he wants to play and how expansive he is, I don't think it's the right move for him or for Palace when you are a quarter of a way through the season. If you brought him in over the summer and he has time to build then it would work, but you have the likes of Sean Dyche who is ready to go in and organise. I wouldn't want to see Berthel Askou go in and rip up the way he works just to keep Palace in the Premier League."