Crystal Palace have now reached an agreement in principle to sign one player after making a 'decisive move', according to one report.
Crystal Palace set for pivotal summer rebuild
The summer facing Palace is one of the most complex any Premier League club will navigate.
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner
Oliver Glasner departs with a long-lasting legacy — an FA Cup, a Community Shield triumph over Liverpool on penalties, a historic Conference League quarter-final campaign — but leaves behind a squad in the midst of significant transition.
No permanent manager has been decided on yet, but work is reportedly well underway.
Names like Thomas Frank and Andoni Iraola are being assessed for the dugout vacancy, while recruitment planning is being conducted in something close to a vacuum.
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On the pitch, Adam Wharton is poised to leave Selhurst and has drawn admiring glances from several of the division's elite clubs, while Daichi Kamada's deal expires this summer.
Yet amid the upheaval, chairman Steve Parish has made his first 'decisive move' of the summer — and it comes with a compelling story attached.
Crystal Palace reach agreement in principle for Harris Afzal
TEAMtalk's Graeme Bailey claims that Crystal Palace have agreed terms to sign Harris Afzal from Queen's Park, the 16-year-old Scottish youth international who has been drawing comparisons with one of the most celebrated graduates in the Glasgow club's history.
It is Queen's Park who famously produced Andy Robertson — one of the finest Scottish defenders of his generation — and Afzal is already drawing comparisons to the Liverpool legend.
Liverpool's Andy Robertson during training
Afzal, whose athleticism, direct running and aggressive intent from wide areas have generated the Robertson comparison, is now following an almost identical trajectory.
The deal is worth around £40,000, with a sell-on clause built in — a clause that could prove extremely lucrative if Afzal develops anything like his illustrious predecessor.
Palace have agreed terms in principle with Queen's Park and the youngster is fully expected to make the move south of the border to accelerate his development within the English academy system, rather than remaining in Scotland.
The complication is that they are not alone.
tonda-eckert-southampton
Southampton, who have one of the most well-regarded development pathways in the Championship, had appeared to be leading the race for much of the process, inviting Afzal for an extended trial spell that built genuine momentum.
They have agreed a deal with Queen's Park on similar terms and continue to push hard for his signature, so the final decision appears to rest with the player.
Both clubs have strong cases to make.
Southampton's track record of nurturing raw talent into senior footballers is genuinely impressive and will be part of their pitch.
Palace, meanwhile, can point to their established Premier League platform, a chairman who has consistently shown willingness to invest in young talent, and a pathway that, if Afzal is anything like Robertson, could lead somewhere extraordinary.
Celtic and Rangers had also been tracking the youngster's progress closely, but it appears the teenager will follow Robertson's template in heading south rather than remaining north of the border.
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