Crystal Palace are set to make a £4million offer to West Brom for the signing of full-back Nathan Ferguson, a report from a print edition of The Sun on Sunday (26/01, p61) has claimed.

Ferguson only broke into the Baggies' first-team at the start of this season, and has since gone onto make 20 league appearances for Slaven Bilic's side, with a string of impressive performances making him one of the Championship's breakthrough stars of the season.

That is something that has not gone unnoticed elsewhere, with both Palace and Tottenham credited with an interest in the teenager earlier this season.

The-19-year-old also looks to be attracting attention from around Europe, with Serie A champions Juventus and La Liga outfit Atletico Madrid also linked with the defender.

Due to the fact that Ferguson is out of contract at The Hawthorns at the end of this season, the defender is now free to open talks with international sides about a pre-contract, something which appears to have had a significant impact on that Premier League interest in the youngster.

According to the latest reports, Palace are now set to make their move for Ferguson with a £4million bid in an attempt to win the race for the defender ahead of those clubs from abroad.

Spurs meanwhile, are reported to have pulled out of the race for Ferguson, as a result of those foreign sides now being free to speak to the teenager about a potential move.

The Verdict

I think West Brom may have to grudgingly consider this offer for Ferguson from Palace.

The teenager has been absolutely outstanding for the Baggies this season, so you would normally imagine that they would not want to lose him at all if possible.

However, given his contract situation means they would stand to lose Ferguson for next to nothing if he was to make the move to one of those foreign sides, it could be argued that Palace's offer for the full-back is the lesser of two evils from a Baggies perspective.

That way, they will at least receive some sort of fee for the defender, which they will then be able to reinvest in the club in some way, potentially on a replacement for Ferguson himself.