DALE JENNINGS is little more than a handshake and a medical examination away from becoming a Bayern Munich player today.
Less than a year after emerging from Tranmere’s youth and reserve teams, the 18-year-old winger from Liverpool is about to join Germany’s most powerful club.
Rovers opened the way for the biggest transfer windfall at Prenton Park in six years by agreeing to accept a Bayern offer likely to net them a seven figure sum.
Weeks of negotiations with the Bundesliga giants resulted in a package with an up front payment believed to be worth in the region of £600,000, which could rise as high as £1.8m depending on Jennings’ progress.
Jennings now has Tranmere’s permission to negotiate personal terms with Bayern and is due to complete a medical today.
Manager Les Parry said: “Bayern have made us a very good offer for Dale and we don’t want to stand in the way of him making this incredible move. When a club with the size and history of Bayern come in for you it’s the opportunity of a lifetime and I wish Dale all the best should the transfer happen.
“It also says a lot about the club’s youth system that one of the giants of European football is interested in signing one of our players.”
Jennings faces the prospect of having to graduate through Bayern’s reserve team set-up before he can establish himself as a Bundesliga player.
But the youngster has already shown exciting potential after breaking into Tranmere’s League One team last season. Jennings’ 32 appearances and six goals brought dozens of scouts to Prenton Park – Bayern’s among them – and earned him the League One Apprentice of the Year honours at the Football League Awards.
Providing Jennings progresses to sign German professional forms and makes a small number of first-team appearances, the transfer fee should rise significantly beyond the £1m mark.
That will make the deal the most lucrative for Tranmere since Ryan Taylor’s £750,000-plus move to Wigan Athletic in 2005.
The most unusual transfer of the summer rewards Tranmere for the patience and commitment they showed in nurturing Jennings’ talent following his release from Liverpool’s Academy at the age of 15.
