Whether it's next month or in the summer Wilf will surely go, and it will be the most significant individual departure since Ian Wright left for Arsenal 30 years ago.

The financial equation is important of course (how many points/league places/millions does Wilf equate to vs the fee we might get), but managing the other implications is equally important.

When Ian Wright went to Arsenal it was much more than a case of 'How do we find a similar replacement, or otherwise adapt the tactics?', which is how many are approaching the loss of Wilf.

Back in 1991, not only did the team lose its best player and top goalscorer, the club lost its heart. That group of players had been on a mission together, to go from being rejects and lower-league pros to being successful top-flight players and internationals. Selling Wright sent a clear message to the rest of the players: Despite everything we've done, we still have our place in the pecking order. All the momentum was lost. Very quickly the other key players saw that they had taken Palace as far as it could ever go, and in turn, been taken as far as Palace could take them. They all quickly moved on to 'bigger' clubs too.

Football is different now. The big boys are unreachable, and if they want a player from a smaller club then the transfer is inevitable. Players, who never stay anywhere for long anyway, are not surprised to see their best teammate leave for a big club. Olise and Eze will have considered Palace a stepping stone from day one, and Zaha moving on will not affect their career planning. When Wilf goes the shockwave will not be the same for Palace as it was when Wright did.

Even so, Wilf is not only (despite slowing down a bit, and the various faults he may have) an utterly irreplaceable player, he is a big personality. He's an emotional guy who isn't shy in telling his teammates if they aren't doing well enough. That's pretty rare these days. Who else will do it? Jimmy Mac is for the knackers yard, Ward doesn't have the same clout.

Every time we struggle to score over the next year or two, every pundit in the land will cite Wilf's absence as the reason. The players will have to live with that perception (that Wilf had been carrying them) as much as with the reality of losing such an effective player and big personality. Are they up to it? Not sure.

I think we will miss the person as much as the player, and miss the person more than we realise.

I think he will be showing off a new haircut at the start of a new season at Selhurst