A lot of youth players are now taking the example of players like Sancho and looking to move abroad, so it's not surprising. He may also have had good feedback from Lumeka who is over in Portugal now. If he moves to Leeds then that would be more surprising, but they may of course be promising more money and a faster route to the first team. There are also rumours we're going to nab West Ham's 19-year-old right-back on a free and he's actually played some PL games, so every club is affected by this.

I do wonder how many of these moves are down to development and how many are down to money though. I mean, this young lad might turn out to be a world beater, or he may just be another promising player who never makes it. Maybe he wants a deal with a good salary now, rather than risk being released on a small contract in a couple of years time. If he is really that good why would he move to Portugal and not say Germany? At 16 I really can't see Palace offering him that big a salary given he would be unlikely to even get close to the first team for at least two years.

When young players don't see those further along the development getting opportunities in the first team squad, how long are they going to stay with us? in the case of Raymond, the fact that the upgrade to our academy is going ahead doesn't seem to have caused him to think again, so as a previous poster has said, he is either being offered a better deal or a quicker route to the first team (at a club who look like this time they will make the Premier league).
Our academy will only be successful when young players are seen to graduate from it into the first team.

Edited by doombear (26 Jun 2020 10.42am)

Are there any examples of young players who have left Palace in recent years before getting their chance and who have gone on to succeed? I think that is as relevant as saying young players aren't given a chance here. I can't think of any off the top of my head, although they might exist. I wonder if our young players just haven't been good enough and that's why they haven't had a chance? At 16 Jadon could sign a contract for one or two years with Palace and see what happens, but his reluctance to do so at this age makes me question his motives. As someone else said, maybe he isn't as good as has been hyped and so Palace aren't offering a particularly attractive deal. If he leaves then good luck to him as at his age neither party owes each other anything.

In terms of players who are sticking around, I like the look of Pierrick as he doesn't look as lightweight as some of the youngsters and seems to have a bit of a swagger which I think is important in a forward player. With Zaha and Bentenke seemingly injured he might get more of a chance in these remaining games. Young fullbacks seem to get more of a chance in the PL so I wouldn't be surprised to see Mitchell get some game time before the season is out too, and hopefully he can prove we don't need to sign another LB to support PvA. The midfield seems too congested for the youngsters to get much of a chance, especially with Riedewald and Meyer seemingly eager for more game time.

You might be thinking about Mandela Egbo who signed for Borussia Moenchengldbach and was assigned to their reserve team. He made a single appearance for the first team.
He has been playing in the USA.

The Club are making a major investment in the Academy with the objective of not only attracting the best talent but having the facilities to develop it.

That won't bear fruit for a few years. But for a club such as ours and with potential financial hard times ahead, it's the best way forward.

To my recollection, the last young player of real ability that bailed out of Palace was Bostock - and look what happened to him.

Old, Ungifted and White

Highly rated youngsters dont always work out, we have just let Kian Flanagan go and he was being eyed by other clubs at one point.