Crystal Palace Football Club are delighted to announce the signing of Freddie Sears on a season long loan deal from West Ham.

Neil Warnock told cpfc.co.uk: " We are thrilled to have him on board as we have been chasing Freddie for some time now. Even after he had agreed to join us he received another couple of decent offers from other clubs but he stayed true to his word and will be joining the lads at Beckenham this Wednesday for our pre-season preparations."

Warnock added: "Freddie is an exciting, hard working player and I am sure the fans will be take to him very quickly."

Sears has been at Upton Park for all his footballing career to date having joined them as a schoolboy at the age of eleven. His prolific goal tally at Under 18 and reserve team level soon meant he was close to representing the east London side in the top flight. This he did with a dream debut from the bench against Blackburn Rovers in March 2008. He came on for the final 16 minutes of the match and headed home the winner against Rovers within five minutes of being on the pitch.

Last season he made 22 appearances in the Premier League which included seven starts for Gianfranco Zola's side and the youngster has already represented his country at Under 19 and 20 level.