Rangers, Southampton and Crystal Palace are among the clubs linked with Queen’s Park left-back Harris Afzal.
Afzal has been expected to leave Queen’s Park as the interest in his services has increased over the past few months.
Rangers have also been keeping tabs as they want to bring the best Scottish youngsters to Ibrox.
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Harris Afzal travels to London as Crystal Palace seem to have won race
According to TEAMtalk, Afzal has travelled to London as Crystal Palace are stepping up their pursuit to sign the 16-year-old.
The Selhurst Park outfit have already agreed personal terms with him despite interest from Rangers and Southampton.
Afzal was aware of the Gers’ interest, but he decided not to move to Ibrox as he wanted to continue his career south of the border.
He will cost Palace around £40,000 plus a sell-on clause as Queen’s Park are sure he will come good in the future.
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Why Rangers will rue missing out on Afzal’s services
As one of Scotland’s brightest prospects, Rangers would undoubtedly regret not being able to sign him.
Given the price at which he is likely to join Palace, it is an absolute steal.
Anyone who has followed his progress would be willing to bet that his valuation will increase a hundredfold over the next five years.
Had he moved to Ibrox, he would have been the first choice for the Under-18s and within a year or two, he would arguably have been ready to knock on the door for first-team opportunities.
Afzal would have also counted as a homegrown player, which is extremely important in European competitions’ squad registration quotas.
However, there is little the Light Blues could do as he had his heart set on a move south of the border.
Not only are Palace offering more money and the chance to play in the best league in the world, but they have even made promises about his pathway to first-team football.
Rangers surely would have tried to secure his services, but no amount of persuasion would have convinced him to move to Glasgow instead of a move to Selhurst Park this summer.
