Crystal Palace set to beat Leeds to signing of Peterborough teenage starlet Adler Nascimento on a professional contract - as Patrick Vieira continues squad overhaul 

  • Crystal Palace are set to win the race for Peterborough's Adler Nascimento
  • The 16-year-old forward is very highly-rated and Posh tried to keep him 
  • Leeds, Wolves and Brighton have all shown interest in the teenager this year
  • Nascimento only made his first-team debut for Peterborough last season

Crystal Palace are set to win the race for Peterborough starlet Adler Nascimento.

Peterborough were hoping to persuade teenage forward Nascimiento to stay after offering him a new scholarship and professional deal.

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But the promising Portuguese youngster, 16, is instead on the verge of finalising a move to the Selhurst Park club.

New Palace boss Patric Vieira is continuing his early overhaul of the Eagles first-team squad

Nascimento had been prolific for Peterborough's youth teams and featured for their under-18s aged just 15. His progress coming through the ranks earned him involvement in Darren Ferguson's first-team plans last season.

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Nascimento made his senior debut on the final day of the campaign, a 4-1 win for promoted Peterborough at Doncaster.

Owner Darragh MacAnthony revealed in January that Wolves and Brighton had made moves for Nascimento. This summer Leeds were also keen but he is now heading for Palace.

Posh owner Darragh MacAnthony (above) has failed to tie down Nascimento to a new contract

They are in talks with Peterborough to try and reach an agreement over a fee, with the Championship side holding out for around £500,000. If a compromise cannot be found the matter will be decided by a tribunal.

Nascimento, who is also eligible for England, will move at an exciting time for Palace's academy and homegrown prospects. They recently spent £20m to revamp their youth setup facilities and Palace's academy now has Category 1 status.

Meanwhile, new manager Patrick Vieira has pledged to give the club's young players opportunities.

Vieira (right) has pledged to give youngsters like Michael Olise (left) more opportunities

He said: 'You have the structure of the football club with this new facility, the new academy. 

'I spent a couple of years at [Manchester] City, and working with some of the best young players in the country really taught me how to understand what it takes, what you need to develop a young talent.

'But I believe this football club has a really good reputation of developing young players. When you see all the young players who are coming through the academy to play for the first team, I think this football club has been working well. 

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'So it's working for those people - I can see if I can bring some of my experience to them to produce even more players.'