CRYSTAL PALACE are leading Manchester City in the race for non-League sensation Samuel Oguntayo.
SunSport understands the Eagles sent scouts to watch the versatile wideman in action for semi-professional side Kingstonian in their 4-2 defeat to Cheshunt on Wednesday.
Crystal Palace are leading Man City in the race for Kingstonian starlet Samuel OguntayoCredit: Kingstonian FC
The Premier League champions also had people in attendance to run the rule over the 17-year-old, who only made his league debut back in January.
But Oguntayo has now accepted an offer to train with Palace’s Under-23s next week at their Copers Cope Road base.
The pacy teen, who has been likened to City ace Benjamin Mendy, can operate both at left-back and right-wing and has also attracted interest from Watford and Leeds United.
Palace meanwhile announced last year their plan to invest in the club’s Beckenham academy to become a breeding ground for talent from south London.
Chairman Steve Parish claimed that the club want to tap into the “Wilfried Zaha effect” by attracting youngsters from the area that accounted for 14 per cent of last season’s players in the Premier League.
While the new set-up was put in place to eventually help Palace’s first-team squad, Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s £50million move to Manchester United also proved the value of good academy graduates.
Yet Man City reportedly remain in a transfer tussle with Arsenal for Aston Villa’s 17-year-old starlet Jaden Philogene-Bidace.
The Villans winger has impressed for the club’s Under-18s side this season, netting six goals in ten games, before being promoted to the U23s.
Reports elsewhere have also claimed City are preparing an audacious bid to sign Chelsea wonderkid Billy Gilmour.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
