Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images
Analysis
Jaydee Canvot is proving to be the perfect replacement for Marc Guehi at Crystal Palace, stepping into the spotlight at just 19 years old.
When Carles Martinez Novell first spotted a young midfielder training with Toulouse’s senior squad during pre-season for the 2024-25 Ligue 1 campaign, he was immediately impressed. The player in question, Jaydee Canvot, had been called up from the academy to fill numbers in the first-team session. He stood out for his physical presence, technical ability, and maturity beyond his years.
Novell kept Canvot involved in the squad throughout the following weeks and months. His competitive debut came as a substitute against Brest in late September 2024, and by January 2025, at age 17, he made his first start for the club.
Toulouse pride themselves on mixing youth and experience, but Canvot was exceptional from the start.
Fast forward 18 months, and Canvot is now a regular Premier League starter for Crystal Palace. Still only 19, he could feature in a major European final before the month ends, with Palace facing Rayo Vallecano in the UEFA Conference League final in Leipzig.
His rise has been nothing short of remarkable.
Canvot was born in Argenteuil, a suburb northwest of Paris, and spent five years at AS Bondy—the same club that produced Kylian Mbappé and William Saliba—before moving to southwest France in 2021. He also honed his skills at the prestigious Clairefontaine elite performance center, often described as a finishing school for young footballing talent.
Toulouse saw raw potential rather than a finished product. “There was a game against Marseille, a big derby, and he made a mistake as a central midfielder. He played a pass that lost the ball, and they scored,” recalls Viktor Bezhani, Toulouse’s sporting director. “He was down on himself after the game, but by the next training session he was completely fine. He understood that mistakes are part of the process.”
That setback proved pivotal: Canvot was moved to center-back, a position where he has since thrived.
In pre-season against RB Leipzig, Canvot made an early statement. “In his first duel, within five minutes, he completely flattened Lois Openda,” says Bezhani. “He wanted to mark his territory. For the next 20 minutes, Openda played the ball back and avoided him.”
Canvot made his first senior start against Lens, playing in midfield, then featured 10 more times before moving to defense. By the end of the 2024-25 season, he had started five more matches, his influence growing with each performance.
After only 22 senior appearances, Palace signed him in a deal worth an initial €23 million (£20m; $27m), with €3.5 million in add-ons and a 15% sell-on clause. Interest came from Aston Villa, RB Leipzig, and other clubs in Germany and Spain, but Palace’s project—and the chance to work with Oliver Glasner—proved most attractive.
Canvot’s early mistake at Palace mirrored his Toulouse experience. In his second appearance for the club, against AEK Larnaca in October, he received a pass from Dean Henderson, was pressed by two attackers, and carelessly gave the ball to Marcus Rohden, who set up Riad Bajic for the only goal of the night. Canvot was substituted nine minutes later.
That wasn’t his only error, but his maturity shone through again. Palace initially planned to ease him into the first team, expecting Guehi to remain. Instead, after Guehi’s departure to Manchester City in January, Canvot became a cornerstone of the defense, consistently impressing alongside Maxence Lacroix.
Sources close to Canvot say Glasner’s message after that mistake was simple: it was part of development, he had the quality, and he only needed to find confidence again. Regular minutes have since provided that.
“It’s natural when you do something, you have to talk to yourself,” Canvot said before Palace’s Conference League semi-final second leg against Shakhtar Donetsk. “I just say, ‘Keep working, don’t think I do everything bad or everything good. Stay focused on the future because you can’t change the past.’ When the staff speak to me, I listen and I learn.”
Glasner echoed that sentiment: “He made a few mistakes, and we spoke about it. But it’s part of development. Mistakes are feedback. If you learn from them, you grow. Jaydee has done that—as a person and a player.”
Canvot’s rapid development has been aided by compatriots Jean-Philippe Mateta and Lacroix, who have helped him settle in London. Bezhani is not surprised.
“We knew he was very talented, with physical prowess,” Bezhani says. “When he first trained with our first team, the head coach said, ‘Whoa, this kid at 17 can play with us right now.’ He evolved physically too—he came in for pre-season looking like Megatron. He was so strong, sometimes pulling his shorts up like Cristiano Ronaldo. In a friendly against Queens Park Rangers, he played center-back and just decided to take over: he dribbled past five or six players all the way up the pitch, passed to a winger, and we created a chance. Slowly, we realized he was becoming too good for our level. His steps were so fast. That explains some of the mistakes—huge steps from 12 starts at Toulouse to regular Premier League minutes for Palace. We called it ‘growing pains’ here.”
Canvot’s aerial dominance is already impressive: his aerial success rate and headed clearances (3.7 per 90) rank fifth among under-21 center-backs in Europe’s top five leagues who have played at least 900 minutes this season. He is an aggressive, front-foot defender: his 8.0 ‘true’ tackles per 1,000 opposition touches is the highest among under-21 defenders. He ranks second for progressive carries and fourth for passes into the final third, often receiving the ball wide with space ahead.
Bezhani says the move from midfield was natural because Canvot is better “when the pitch is in front of him,” breaking lines with ball carries.
“It’s all about improving, and Jaydee is one of the best examples,” adds Glasner. “When he came, he had played only 15 or 16 games as a starter. He learned from everyone, always trying to improve. When it was time, he stepped up. Now he plays at an incredibly consistent level. Credit to him—we just support him.”
Canvot studied Guehi, whom he calls a “big brother.” While there are similarities, Canvot insists on playing his own game: “I want to play like me.” He will face Guehi when Palace take on Manchester City on Wednesday.
Palace will be relieved that Guehi’s void has been filled so effectively, and delighted that Canvot has emerged from his former teammate’s shadow. The teenager’s trajectory is soaring, and there is immense excitement for what lies ahead.