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​Bright warns Crystal Palace ready to snap up London talent from Chelsea, Arsenal

Crystal Palace hero Mark Bright believes that club are in a position to snap up the best talent in London.

Palace have redeveloped their academy, making them ready to find the top talent in and around the capital.

And Bright thinks the Eagles can snatch players who would usually join other London clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.

"It is a great catchment area, everyone talks about south east London," Bright told the Beautiful Game Podcast.

"Around 9-11 per cent of players in the Premier League are from south east London, that is our catchment area.

"Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are from our catchment area, but we didn't get them because Chelsea have got an excellent academy, excellent staff and are run really well. They take the best players, scoop them all up.

"Steve [Parish, the chairman] has always wanted a 50-50 blend [in the first team]. He would love to have five from the academy, that would be his ideal scenario. That has been Steve's dream.

"Josh [Harris] and Dave [Blitzer], the American owners, have been behind it. When the planning permission went through I felt a sense of relief for Steve, because he has put a lot of time into it and the plans.

"What you hope is that it will now be so impressive that you get those guys who will come to us rather than go to Arsenal or Chelsea, because we've got the facilities.

"[Having] the facilities in the catchment area should help us to scoop up more of the players."

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Freddie Taylor

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