Report: £60,000 prodigy wanted by Liverpool and Guardiola in January has just left Crystal Palace

Add as preferred source on Google

Crystal Palace wonderkid Zion Atta has taken to Instagram to confirm his departure from Selhurst Park, amid interest from some big clubs.

What’s the story?

Well, the 16-year-old – who is represented by Mino Raiola – had turned down a professional contract with the Eagles.

As the Daily Mail revealed in January, Atta has received big offers from Ajax and Roma, while Liverpool and Manchester City were monitoring him.

In that report, it was said that the teenage wonderkid was hoping to find a club with a clearer pathway to the first-team.

With Tyrick Mitchell, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi all coming into the first-team in recent years, there is clearly a pathway to progress.

Atta – who is eligible to play for Italy or the Ivory Coast – cost Crystal Palace £60,000 when they signed him from Millwall aged 13.

How did Zion Atta announce his Crystal Palace exit?

Sadly, Raiola’s influence has proven to be too strong for the south Londoners, as Atta confirmed his departure on Instagram.

The attacker did not reveal which club he’d be joining, so there’s a chance it could be either Liverpool or Manchester City, who were keen in January.

You can see Atta’s Instagram post in full below.

In our view, we can’t help but feel the prodigy is making a mistake.

Crystal Palace have just invested £20m in a new state-of-the-art academy system, which has already produced some gems for Patrick Vieira.

Young Reece Hannam was involved with the first-team during pre-season, as was Rob Street, Jake O’Brien and Rak-Sakyi.

The latter has also just received his first England Under-20 call-up.

It’s an exciting time for Crystal Palace’s prospects.

Unfortunately, Atta won’t be a part of the journey anymore, after Raiola did what he always does and secures moves for his client.

Hopefully, the youngster goes on to fulfil his huge potential.