Crystal Palace Offer Professional Contract to Highly Rated 18-Year-Old Academy Prospect

Crystal Palace have offered a professional contract to 18-year-old academy prospect Joseph Hungbo.

The Nigerian has been a part of the youth setup with the Eagles since he was nine years old. He has come through the Oasis Shirley Park programme, which includes academy graduate Aaron-Wan-Bissaka. His performance at youth level even earned him the honour of being named the U9-16 player of the year back in 2015/16.

His talents have been plain to see for some time now and he was even named in the Guardian's top 20 best talents at Premier League clubs in 2016. He has attracted attention from high profile Premier League sides such as Chelsea and Liverpool, but the youngster has decided to stick with Palace for the foreseeable future.

During the 2017/18 season, Hungbo acted as the stand-in captain for Palace's U-18 side and he managed to score 14 goals in 29 appearances. He performances warranted him a place in Richard Shaw's U-23 side that went on to feature in the playoff final, losing 2-1 to Charlton - a game that Hungbo scored in.

With the contract secured, Hungbo will more than likely continue to feature for the side's development squad, with a view to eventually breaking into the senior squad.

Crystal Palace have had a good recent history with bringing through academy players to their first team setup, including current first-team players Wilfred Zaha, Jonathan Williams, Aaron-Wan-Bissaka and Sully Kaikai.

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With any luck, Hungbo can add to that already-impressive list.