Arsenal icon Vieira runs the rule over 18-year-old Nigerian in first training session as Palace boss

Published: July 06, 2021

A day after his appointment as the new boss of Crystal Palace as replacement for Roy Hodgson, former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira held his first training session as coach of The Eagles.

With a number of Palace players on international duty with their respective nations in the close season and given extra days off, the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship winner promoted some outstanding academy players to first team training.

Vieira, who has been hired on a contract that will run until 2024, was pictured by the official website of Crystal Palace, monitoring at close quarters 2002-born striker of Nigerian descent, David Omilabu.

Recuperating midfielder Eberechi Eze was snapped at the training ground in Beckenham but did not participate in the session as he actually came to familiarize himself with the new manager.

Omilabu's promotion to Crystal Palace first team training should not come as a surprise following a sensational campaign for their youth teams, scoring a remarkable 24 goals in all competitions.

The Anglo-Nigerian, who wore the number 81 kit during yesterday's workout, was named Crystal Palace U18s Player of the Season for 2020-2021.

Crystal Palace's first pre-season game comes up against Portsmouth on July 16th.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : cpfc.co.uk

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