Crystal Palace are set to make a bid for 16-year-old striker Matthew Shevlin who plays for Northern Irish side Ballymena United, according to Stephen Alexander of The Ballymena Times.
Shevlin recently had a trial with The Eagles and apparently he impressed the powers-that-be so much that they are prepared to make a bid for him.
Ballymena United chairman John Taggart said:
The indications I have, both from the representative of Crystal Palace that I spoke to and the player’s agent, are that the club are interested in signing the player. By all accounts Matthew did very well during his trial and from that, I’m told that Crystal Palace are expected to make an offer by the end of this week. I believe he played in training matches at a number of different age levels and scored quite a few goals, including a hat-trick in one game.
However, securing a deal for Shevlin won’t be straight forward for Palace. They will face competition for the youngster from League One side Sheffield United, where he is due to have a trial early next week.
Before then, he should be back in the Ballymena United squad for Saturday’s Danske Bank Premiership matchup against Warrenpoint Town. He missed the County Antrim Shield win over Glebe Rangers in midweek after he was rested.
Shelvin has made eight appearances for the Ballymena United first team so far this season and has managed to score four goals.
