Crystal Palace Football Club News

• Nickname:The Eagles
• Founded:1905
• Manager:Dougie Freedman

• Ground:Selhurst Park
• Capacity:26,309

Eagles agree to sign two

07 Jul 2009 - 11:54:33

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Crystal Palace have completed a deal to bring Darren Ambrose to Selhurst Park, while agreeing to bring West Ham United's Freddie Sears to the club on loan.

Ambrose joins Palace from Charlton Athletic, who were relegated to League One last season.

The 25-year-old has penned a two-year contract with Neil Warnock's side. The manager revealed that he has trailed Ambrose not only at Palace, but during his tenure at Sheffield United too.

"I've been after Darren for years. I was even prepared to offer up to £1million before he went up to Newcastle in 2003 when I was at Sheffield," Warnock told the club's official website.

"I've always thought he was a quality player and we've missed a dead-ball specialist since Ben Watson went. His dead-ball quality is very good and he can play five out of six positions whether that's 4-4-2 of 4-3-3.

"So he's very flexible and all I'm asking him to do is play with a smile on his face because I think he's been down in the doldrums the last couple of years."

Meanwhile, Sears joins from the Hammers on a season-long loan agreement. The young forward made a promising start to life in the Premier League last season, but moves to the Championship in a bid to play regular first-team football.

"We're thrilled to have him on board as we've been chasing Freddie for some time now," Warnock said of Sears.

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