Crystal Palace have registered an interest in West Bromwich Albion starlet Reyes Cleary, who is also on the radars of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
According to a report from the Daily Mail, Crystal Palace are keeping tabs on West Bromwich Albion’s 17-year-old prospect Reyes Cleary, who is also a transfer target for reigning German champions Bayern Munich.
A product of the West Brom youth academy, Cleary is a centre-forward who has been making quite the waves at the Under-18 level for the Baggies. To date, the teenage striker has produced a tally of 16 goals and three assists from 21 games for the Under-18s, with eight of those goals coming from five games this season.
Cleary has been promoted to the club’s reserves as a reward for his impressive performances, where he has shone brightly again, bagging three goals in six games in the Premier League 2. The youngster has been compared to Chelsea hitman Romelu Lukaku for his power, pace and goalscoring instincts.
Yet to make his senior debut for West Brom, Cleary has not signed a professional contract with the Baggies as of yet, either. And while the EFL Championship outfit are hoping to tie him down to a deal, the mounting interest in him from clubs across England and Europe is making things difficult for the club.
Newcastle United had been credited with an interest in him recently, with Crystal Palace also now emerging as a suitor for the 17-year-old Englishman. The Eagles are making a lot of positive strides under the tutelage of new manager Patrick Vieira, focusing on building a squad around younger talents.
The centre-forward position has been an issue for the Eagles for a while, with Christian Benteke and Jordan Ayew not delivering the goods consistently. While the arrival of Odsonne Edouard has helped them in that aspect, adding an up-and-coming prospect like Cleary to groom him to become a first-team player in a year or two would be a good move for Crystal Palace, who have also been linked with other strikers like Anthony Martial.
However, they will have to compete with the might of German champions Bayern Munich, who have watched the 17-year-old in action and are planning more scouting trips. The Bavarian giants showed their willingness to sign up young talents from the English second division last summer when they recruited former Reading full-back Omar Richards. As per the report, they could be set to do so again with Cleary.
Apart from Crystal Palace and Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, TSG Hoffenheim, and Schalke are also keeping tabs on the 17-year-old. West Brom, for their part, remain intent on convincing their promising prospect to sign a new contract and continue his development at the club. It will be interesting to see what Cleary chooses to do in the coming months.
