Nathan Collins will be snapped up by a top four club in no time if his career trajectory stays on an upward curve.
That’s the view of former Ireland defender Damien Delaney who likes what he sees in his fellow centre-back.
Collins stole the show for Ireland in June by topping off four outstanding performances with a sensational individual goal against Ukraine.
And that promoted Wolves to make him the most expensive Irish player of all time with a €24m move from Burnley.
But former Crystal Palace ace Delaney reckons Collins, 21, will take that additional pressure in his stride.
"I don't think it will bother him in the slightest,” he told Mirror Sport. "He seems like an ultra confident character.
“To go from Stoke to Burnley to Wolves in such quick succession shows that if you deliver, people are always watching.
"Getting into the Ireland squad and hitting the ground running like he did didn't faze him and I don't think the price tag will bother him.”
Delaney continued: "Wolves bought him to improve their team now and he does that straight away.
“But €24m for a centre-back these days is not an extortionate amount of money.
“In the next two or three years, if he delivers the performances, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a top four or top six team come in and pay an extortionate amount of money.
"He has that potential. Everyone you speak to about him says he's a great lad and very coachable and he has the physical attributes required.
"He's as mobile a centre-back as you're going to get, he's deceptively quick and can seriously handle the ball - and he's brave. He has everything you need to go again.”
Meanwhile, Delaney believes Patrick Vieira must do more than just keep Crystal Palace in the Premier League this season.
The Frenchman leads Palace into Friday’s top flight curtain-raiser against his former club Arsenal, where he was a three-time title winner.
But the heat is being turned up on Vieira, 46, who steered the south London club to a respectable 12th position last season and an FA Cup semi-final appearance.
Delaney made 130 Premier League appearances for Crystal Palace across a six-year spell from 2012 to 2018.
And the former Ireland international feels Vieira goes into his second season at the club with added weight on his shoulders.
He told Mirror Sport: “Vieira did an incredibly good job in his first season at Nice and then it didn't quite go as planned in the second.
"That second season syndrome would be playing in the back of your mind.
"I still think Palace will be fine, but it's when the fans start looking for more that the manager has to manage expectations.”
Delaney, 41, captained Palace for a spell and continued: "The amount of upheaval last summer, I think he has done an incredibly good job.
“They spent a lot of money and removed a lot of players. When it was Roy Hodgson in charge, it was about results and 40 points was all that mattered.
"All of a sudden they want to play a better brand of football and sign a vastly different type of player to achieve that.”
But that’s why Delaney believes there will be more scrutiny on Vieria this season than last, especially after losing the likes of loan star Conor Gallaghrer back to Chelsea.
"I don't want to be harsh and say it could go either way as the manager will try to keep Palace on the right path, but the fans will be looking for progression,” he explained.
"Last year there was a lot of good will when results weren't going well and there were spells when it didn't quite click.
"There was a lot of patience from the fans from what I saw but that changes very quickly when you move into the second season.
"They will be expecting more and the manager has to show that progression.
“While they did okay last year, it all petered out in the back end of the middle third of the season
"They were never flirting with relegation but it was only ever four or five points away. But in fairness, they got themselves together.
"With the amount of changes at the club, staying up was the only remit the manager had and they did that. But as time progresses, expectations increase.
"The club has changed its path drastically since I was there. The remit now is young players with resale value and brighter, more attacking football.
"They have lost Gallagher, and I'm surprised that a week before the season only one player has arrived to replace him.”
Delaney reckons Irish youngster Killian Phillips has a bright future at Crystal Palace following his move from Drogheda United in January.
Comfortable in defence and midfield, the teenager is already held in high regard after featuring for the first-team in pre-season.
Delaney said: "I spoke to a couple of people at the club regarding him and they are really delighted by him.
“They weren't expecting him to have the impact on pre-season that he had with the first-team.
"They were impressed with his size, mobility but most importantly his attitude. The first thing people said was 'Jesus, he's a good lad'.
"He just needs to take it into his 23s season and he could be going out on loan very, very soon. He has to earn that but from what I’ve been told, they’re really impressed.”
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