Crystal Palace have agreed terms in principle to sign Harris Afzal, the 16-year-old Scottish left-back from Queen’s Park who has been drawing comparisons with Andy Robertson, in a move that looks set to hijack Southampton’s pursuit of the highly-rated teenager.
TEAMtalk can exclusively reveal that both Crystal Palace and Southampton have now reached a separate agreement with Queen’s Park over a deal worth in the region of £40,000, with a sell-on clause included. The two English clubs have effectively arrived at the same point in negotiations independently, setting up a straight fight between the pair for Afzal’s signature.
Why Harris Afzal is attracting such serious attention
Afzal has emerged from Queen’s Park, the same Glasgow club that produced Andy Robertson before his journey took him to Hull City, Liverpool and international football. The comparison is not simply a headline-grabbing hook. Afzal plays in a similar mould to Robertson: left-footed, aggressive in the press, comfortable carrying the ball forward and with a natural instinct to get into attacking areas. As a Scottish youth international, he has already caught the eye at representative level too.
Celtic and Rangers had both been tracking his progress before the interest from England escalated, but Afzal is expected to follow a similar route to Robertson by taking the step down south at an early age rather than staying in Scotland to develop. The English pathway, with its academy structures and first-team pipelines, is clearly the preferred direction for his development.
Crystal Palace vs Southampton: who wins the Harris Afzal race?
Southampton had appeared to be leading the race after inviting Afzal down for an extended trial spell, giving them an early advantage in terms of familiarity and relationship building. However, Crystal Palace’s emergence as a serious competing party, with a matching agreement now in place on the fee, has turned this into a genuine two-horse race.
Palace have been increasingly active in targeting elite young talent under chairman Steve Parish, and securing a player of Afzal’s profile at this stage would represent exactly the kind of long-term investment the club’s recruitment strategy is built around. Southampton, despite heading into a likely Championship season, retain a strong track record of developing young players through their system and will point to that reputation as a key selling point.
A decision is expected soon. Both clubs have done the groundwork. The choice now lies with Afzal and his family.
