Celtic are reported to have joined the chase for Blues youngster Dylan Crowe with Town said to be looking for £500,000 for the England U18 international right-back.

Yesterday, Huddersfield were reported to have had a £300,000 compensation offer for the 18-year-old rebuffed by the Blues.

Now the Daily Mail reports that Celtic are also showing interest, along with German side RB Leipzig, who were linked last summer, as were Arsenal, Manchester United, Brighton, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Benfica.

The Mail claims the Blues are holding out for £500,000 in compensation for Crowe and that the Terriers remain the frontrunners.

Crowe, who joined Town aged 12, completed his two-year academy scholarship this season but is yet to agree professional terms with Town.

If he moves on without having signed a professional contract the club would be due compensation from his new side for his years in the academy, although the Blues would receive what’s almost certain to be a lower sum based on FIFA’s training compensation formula if he moved to a club in a foreign association, such as Scotland or Germany.

Shortly before the end of the season, manager Paul Lambert said discussions were continuing between Crowe’s representatives and Town.

“He’s a young one developing at the minute so I’m pretty sure the club and his people will be talking,” he said.

When previously asked about Crowe's situation in February Lambert was critical of the player and the advice he was getting from his agent.

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve played for England youth team or not, it doesn’t matter. That’s no major, major claim to fame," he said.

“If you use that for your fame, my God you’re in trouble because you’ve got miles and miles to go.

“I think that’s important for any young player, just because you train with the first team or you play in a youth level game, it’s not professional football yet. Get in the first team and play a lot of games, then it becomes reality.

“So I don’t buy into this stuff about ‘national team, youth player’. Potentially, definitely, things are there but you’re never going to achieve anything with potential, you have to produce and I think that’s important. I don’t want young kids to be big-headed or their nose goes in the air and they thing, ‘I’ve arrived’.

“You’ve not arrived until you play 10 or 15 years in the game, then you think, ‘I’ve had a decent career’.

“I don’t want that culture in the club that because you’re a youth player or you’ve trained with the first team that you think you’re a player. You’re not.”

The Blues boss added: “I think the club’s talking with him and his other people. As I say, sometimes agents think players are better than they really are or tell them what they want to hear.

“As long as I’m here I don’t want a culture where people think young players have arrived without earning the right. That’s one thing I’ll not put up with.”

Meanwhile, Peterborough United have confirmed the signing of Exeter keeper Christy Pym on a free transfer. Pym, 24, was among the keepers the Blues spoke to prior to signing Gillingham's Tomas Holy last week.

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