Palace sign Croatia defender Sosa

Crystal Palace have signed Croatia defender Borna Sosa from Ajax on a three-year deal.

The 27-year-old plays as a left-sided wing-back and Palace said he is “capable of influencing matches at both ends of the pitch”.

He is Palace’s second signing after the arrival of Argentina goalkeeper Walter Benitez on a free transfer.

The FA Cup winners are awaiting a Uefa decision on whether they can play in next season’s Europa League.

Sosa has joined for a reported £3m but one source has told the BBC it is £2m.

Chairman Steve Parish said Sosa would be a “perfect fit” for Palace and added his arrival “adds additional quality, experience and depth to our squad”.

Sosa joined Ajax in September 2023 and made 25 appearances but spent last season on loan at Italian Serie A side Torino, playing in 20 games with the side but deciding not to take up their option to buy him.

He has 26 caps for Croatia, scoring twice and playing a key role as they finished third at the 2022 World Cup.

Tom McCoy, BBC Sport journalist:

Sosa will provide security for Tyrick Mitchell at left-back.

He will hope to recapture the form he showed during five seasons at Stuttgart, where he established himself as one of the best attacking full-backs in Germany.

He registered 24 Bundesliga assists during his final three years at the club, the joint-highest figure of any defender during that period, but his career has stalled since then.

Three weeks after joining Ajax in 2023, the man who signed him, director of football Sven Mislintat, was sacked. Sosa soon fell out of favour and started just 10 Eredivisie games before spending 2024-25 on loan at Torino, where he began only 14 Serie A matches.

Though capped at various youth levels by Croatia, he controversially tried to switch allegiance to Germany prior to Euro 2020, only to discover at the last minute it wasn’t permitted under Fifa rules.

He quickly issued a public apology, admitting he had been “wrong” and “naive”, and has since won 26 caps for his native country, including five starts as they reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2022.