Crystal Palace race Rangers to sign Birmingham City talent in 'typical' Steve Parish transfer

Crystal Palace are rivalling Rangers and Norwich City in a transfer race for Birmingham City winger Zaid Betteka ahead of the summer in a swoop that would be somewhat of a classic Eagles move.

The south London outfit has earned a reputation for scouting EFL talent and helping them make the move up the leagues. Michael Olise made the step up from Reading, Eberechi Eze from QPR and Marc Guehi from a loan spell at Swansea City.

Last January, Adam Wharton was recruited from struggling Blackburn Rovers and has gone on to earn England recognition and Romain Esse was snapped up from Millwall just weeks ago for a £14.5 million fee.

Crystal Palace target Birmingham City winger

The next Crystal Palace target could be rising Birmingham City winger Betteka according to Football Insider. The player is just 18 years old but is yet to sign a professional deal at St Andrew's, which has alerted potential suitors.

Betteka has come up through the Birmingham City youth academy and made his debut in the FA Cup third round win over Lincoln City last month. Norwich City and Rangers are just two clubs also monitoring the player.

The winger has been a regular for the Blues' under-21 side but is yet to feature in a Chris Davies matchday squad in League One this season. Birmingham City are currently top of the third tier and chasing promotion to the Championship.

Betteka faced Crystal Palace in an under-18 match between the Eagles and Birmingham City last summer and put in an impressive performance. Crystal Palace won that match 3-0 but the Blues winger forced several saves from Eagles keeper Jack Mason in a lively outing.

Selhurst Park the ‘perfect place’ to unlock potential

Speaking after signing Esse from Millwall in January, Oliver Glasner referenced the club's transfer strategy of recruiting young. He said: “I’m delighted that Romain joins us and can now train with us. He will be a typical Crystal Palace signing — a young player from the Championship that we will help in his development. This is what we will do with Romain.

“We are convinced of his skills. Left foot, good first touch, understanding of the game and finding spaces. Then we will work with him and support him to improve. It gives us one more option in attack.”

Indeed, Crystal Palace certainly still have their eye for young talents, with Esse scoring within minutes of his debut against Brentford last month. In a statement following the signing of Adam Wharton last year, chairman Steve Parish underlined his belief that Selhurst Park is the perfect place to nurture young talent.

He said: “I’m delighted that Adam, a player whose rapid development we have followed closely, has decided to join us at Crystal Palace.

“Adam’s consistently impressive performances for Blackburn at such a young age have understandably caught the eye of many a club, but we believe Palace to be – as has so often been the case in recent years – the perfect place to harness his undoubted potential, and we look forward to working with him in the years ahead to do so.”

In other news, Chelsea are linked with several Crystal Palace players ahead of the summer including a defender, who is not Marc Guehi.