The midfielder has made a solid start to life in south London, having moved from Bournemouth – where he made 184 appearances and won the club’s Player of the Year award – in the summer to become Palace’s very first Colombian player.
Lerma has thus far made six appearances for the Eagles in all competitions, being voted Man of the Match on his debut against Sheffield United.
The industrious midfielder has forged an all-action partnership with Cheick Doucouré at the spine of Palace’s side, while club captain Joel Ward recently jokingly described Lerma as a ‘salmon’ after his impressive leaps have helped him win the tenth-most aerial duels per game among Premier League players this season.
Reflecting on the opening chapter of his Palace story, Lerma recently told Premier League Productions: “I’m very happy to be here. It’s been great so far.
“It was a very warm welcome. The club opened me with open arms. I feel at home here and I feel like we’re going to have a lot of success with this club in the future.
“I knew I was going to have to undergo a big change when I decided to move clubs, but that’s the price you pay to have a new adventure. It’s been a great experience and a good transition so far.
“Everyone’s welcomed me really nicely so far. [Jean-Philippe] Mateta, [Joachim] Andersen and [Ebere] Eze – who actually speaks a bit of Spanish – are probably the ones I speak with the most, they communicate with me, but everyone overall’s been great and that makes it easy for me to adapt.”
