Crystal Palace closing in on Romain Esse signing, confirms Millwall boss | OneFootball

The Eagles are expected to snap up the highly rated youngster

Millwall manager Alex Neil has confirmed that Crystal Palace are progressing in talks with a deal to sign Romain Esse.

Standard Sport revealed back in December that the Eagles had discussed a move for the 19-year-old internally and last week interest was stepped up with formal talks over the winger.

Neil spoke last week of how it would take "significant money" to see Esse leave the club and confirmed on Monday night that a deal with Palace is advancing towards a conclusion.

Esse was absent from the squad as Millwall beat Dagenham and Redbridge in the FA Cup third round. Asked for a reason after the game, Neil said: "There wasn’t an issue.

"Crystal Palace have shown a lot of interest [and] I didn’t make him available for game. That situation is progressing and I didn’t want to put it at risk at this stage."

Palace have held a long-standing interest in Esse, with sporting director Dougie Freedman having scouting the young forward on multiple occasions.