Sutton United boss Paul Doswell has warned young star Jerson Dos Santos there may not be room for him at Gander Green Lane should a dream move to Crystal Palace fall through.

The 17-year-old has been on trial at Neil Warnock’s Championship side and impressed enough for the Selhurst Park club to offer him Academy terms, according to the United manager.

Dos Santos had been due to sign for Doswell’s side last week, but delayed his decision after being offered a last-minute shot with the Eagles.

The striker, who had a two-week trial at Premier League Portsmouth earlier in the summer, was left out of the squad for Sutton’s 3-2 friendly win at Uxbridge to spend the weekend mulling over his future.

United signed left-back Kevin George and right-winger Orlando Smith - both on a non-contract basis - on Saturday and will swoop to bring in former AFC Bournemouth and Ebbsfleet Town star Chukki Eribenne this week.

Doswell is expected to land another ‘well-known’ goal-scorer on Wednesday and admits it could mean there is no coming back for Dos Santos.

“With Walid Mutata and Steffan Gaisse going I have had to move quickly to bring the right quality in. I can’t afford to wait for Jerson to make up his mind,” he said.

“We haven’t washed our hands of him. He was due to sign the contract last Wednesday and with the best will in the world the chairman offered him the best contract he could.

“If he comes back I’m sure the chairman will try and sign him for us, but with us bringing in two more strikers I’m not sure if there will be any money for him or not.”

Doswell will unveil his finalised Ryman League Premier Division squad following Saturday’s final friendly with Kingstonian and it is set to contain at least 15 contracted players.

Goals from Steve West, Adam Wilde and Adam Roberts secured the weekend win, but the manager is still sweating on the fitness of Steve Watts to finally nail down his first team squad.

“Steve hasn’t played all pre-season, which is a problem we need to look at. By Monday everybody will know where they stand,” he added.

“We did play very well at Uxbridge and it wouldn’t have been a surprise had we won by six or seven. Steve West has been filling in for us up front really and we need more pace. Apart from that we are fine.”