Marcel Brands should repeat Everton’s success of signing Seamus Coleman for a bargain fee with a move for Crystal Palace’s in-demand Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mail, Rak-Sakyi is set to leave Selhurst Park at the end of the season after rejecting the offer of a professional contract with the south London side.

The 18-year-old whizkid is highly-rated by talent spotters and regarded as the brightest prospect to emerge in Palace’s academy since Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who sealed a £50m move to Manchester United in 2019 after playing 46 first-team games under Roy Hodgson.

Rak-Sakyi has scouts from a number of clubs on alert after turning in a string of impressive performances in the Eagles’ U18 and U23 squads, where he has excelled in an attacking midfielder role as well as on the wing.

And he looks increasingly likely to leave Crystal Palace this summer after snubbing a two-year pro deal, making his services available for just £150,000 in compensation for his development.

The Bundesliga appears the most probable destination for the teenager as he looks to follow the trend of young English players finding a path into the senior game in Germany, with Borussia Monchengladbach and FC Schalke 04 keen.

Rak-Sakyi also has suitors in Celtic, West Ham United and Everton, but each lag behind their continental opponents after his representatives held ‘very positive’ discussions with some of the youngster’s potential clubs.

He is expected to prioritise a pathway into the first-team over anything else, having grown concerned about what opportunities he will be given should the former Chelsea trainee stay at Crystal Palace.

Should Everton sign him?

Rak-Sakyi is still an unproven talent in the senior game with no appearances outside of the academies of Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion, but he clearly has a lot of potential as top sides begin to turn their eye to his imminent availability.

Creativity has not been an issue for the 18-year-old in Eagles colours, either, with the Crystal Palace official club website showing he boasts six goals in 11 appearances for the U18s this season and has already struck the back of the net once in three games for the U23s.

The coaching staff at Selhurst Park are also noted to have been impressed with Rak-Sakyi’s technical ability and awareness, as well as his eye for goal, that could now be available for a mere £150,000 as he questions what future lies in store in south London.

Given that doubt and the talks with German sides, Everton’s Director of Football Brands should be doing his utmost to convincingly present the path to the first-team at Goodison Park, as he managed when overseeing Niels Nkounkou’s move from Olympique de Marseille last year.

Everton have previous for signing would-be stars for bargain sum too, having paid Sligo Rovers a mere £60,000 for Coleman in 2009, who has since gone on to captain the Blues and make 340 appearances in all competitions.

It’s too early to say Rak-Sakyi will follow Coleman’s footsteps and one day lead Everton out at the club’s proposed 52,000 capacity new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, but it is fair to assume they could regret missing out on seeing what his potential is all about if he goes elsewhere.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti has set his eyes on bringing a £59m flop to Everton