On January 22nd, Crystal Palace announced the signing of Scott Banks from Dundee United.
The 18-year-old penned a three-year deal with the Eagles, after winning Clyde’s Goal of the Season award and also being named as the Man of the Match in a game which secured their promotion from League Two in the 2018/19 campaign.
While Crystal Palace’s official website didn’t disclose any financial details, The Express published an exclusive report on January 18th which contained a telling piece of information.
They stated that the south Londoners could’ve secured the teenager for a significantly lower fee had they waited until the summer – £200k in ‘training compensation’ to be precise.
However, the Eagles parted with a ‘six-figure fee’ believed to be ‘far in excess’ of that £200k figure to bring Banks to SE25 before anyone else could get their hands on him in the time between now and the summer.
While the Scotland U19 international has almost immediately been loaned out to Alloa Athletic, the decision to pay a bit more for him to arrive at Selhurst Park now rather than the summer highlights Steve Parish’s intent to act on the club’s ‘acceptance’ in regards to lowering the average age of the squad.
Dominic Fifield revealed on the HLTCO podcast that there is an ‘acceptance’ from the club at all levels that the squad needs freshening up with young players, and while Banks wasn’t one to come straight into the first-team, the decision to pay more for him now rather than wait – and save a few pennies – is telling from Parish and Sporting Director Dougie Freedman in regards to how seriously they are acting on this acceptance.
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Admittedly, the first-team could’ve done with being bolstered with some younger faces in January, but The Express’ nugget of information outlining the Eagles’ decision to pay a slight premium on Banks is a telling one.
In other news, this Crystal Palace loanee has endured a baptism of fire in his first two appearances with his new club…