Crystal Palace have been keeping tabs on 17-year-old striker Baylee Dipepa, the South London Press understands.
Dipepa made his Port Vale debut at the start of the 2023-24 season as a 16-year-old, coming on in an EFL Trophy clash against League Two side Crewe Alexandra.
He penned his first professional deal in January 2024 and made 22 League One appearances last season for the Valients as they were relegated to the fourth tier, scoring twice and picking up three assists.
Dipepa became the club’s second youngest goal scorer in March scoring in a 2-1 defeat against Shrewsbury.
After an impressive start to life with England’s U17 squad, scoring three times in the build-up to the U17 European Championship, Dipepa was called up to this summer’s tournament and scored in their opening 4-0 win over France.
Palace will face tough competition for Dipepa’s signature should they choose to swoop for him, with West Ham and Manchester United both linked with the youngster in recent weeks.
The Eagles have made a habit of plucking the best talent from the EFL in previous years, with sporting director Dougie Freedman signing Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Adam Wharton from the Championship.
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The Innerleithen outfit will host Coldstream for a pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 6, with kick-off at 3pm.
The Streamers are one of three sets of Borderers in that division, along with Peebles Rovers, following Vale’s relegation from the EoSFL’s
They play the Moffat men on Saturday, June 29, at 3pm, the Scottish Premiership side’s colts on Thursday, July 4, and Fairydean on Tuesday, July 9, the former being a 7.15pm kick-off and the latter beginning quarter of an hour later.
Vale last took on a Hearts XI in September 2023, losing 7-1 in a friendly at home, and their most recent game against Gala was a 3-0 Scottish Lowland Football League Cup play-off defeat, also at home, in April 2022.
first division this summer after finishing last campaign at the bottom of the table with minus-three points from 28 fixtures.
July’s game will be Vale’s second versus Coldstream in the space of a year as they were drawn against them in the first round of last season’s South Region Challenge Cup, losing 2-0 away at Home Park last August.
Manager Ian Flynn’s team have arranged four friendlies at Victoria Park so far this summer, their other opponents being South of Scotland Football League side Upper Annandale, Heart of Midlothian B and fellow Scottish Lowland Football League outfit Gala Fairydean Rovers.
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