by Daniel Jones

PALACE manager George Burley has held crunch talks with Nathaniel Clyne's agent as rumours linking the youngster with a move to the Premier League refuse to go away.

Birmingham have made a £1.5million bid for the teenage full-back and are ready to come back with an improved offer after Burley refused to even consider what was on the table.

The Eagles boss is determined to hang on to Clyne, who is currently at the European Championships in France with England U19s, and told the teenager's representatives exactly that earlier this week.

"I met his agent and his mother and I told them where I stand and that is I do not want to lose my best young players," he said. "I don't want to have to keep commenting on speculation but this story refuses to go away.

"I have made it perfectly clear that I'm not interested in selling and I'm looking forward to working with Nathaniel when he gets back from England duty."

Burley has also reiterated his determination to hang on to what he describes as the "core" of his squad.

Reports linking goalkeeper Julian Speroni and top scorer Darren Ambrose have also resurfaced over the past week, but the manager remains unconcerned.

"Paddy McCarthy has signed a new deal and we have already started talks with Julian, Darren and Neil Danns about getting them to commit long term to the club," he said.

"Those players are the core of the team, the key players if you like, and we are determined to keep them all. We are trying to build a successful future for Crystal Palace.

"It's early days but we certainly don't want to start selling our best players and we are under no pressure to do so."