From Birkenhead to Bayern Munich

Life probably seems quite surreal to Dale Jennings right now. Merely ten months after making his first-team debut at the tender age of 17 at home to Charlton, Jennings is on the verge of a move to European giants Bayern Munich.

His cameo against Charlton began a rocket-like ascent to stardom that led to widespread interest in his services after just four months of first-team football. Tranmere, however, rejected the advances of numerous Premier League and Championship clubs as we were eager to keep hold of their talisman in the midst of a relegation dogfight.

Having survived and guaranteed ourselves another season of League One football, it now seems inevitable that we will have to part with our prize possession.

Bayern Munich are in pole position to snap up Jennings, who is supposedly having a medical and discussing personal terms as I write this, having inquired about his availability shortly after the end of the season. A trial was offered and a formal bid has been made for the former Liverpool trainee that has been accepted after discussion in the Tranmere boardroom.

Rumours were circulating in the national press suggest that West Ham were also interested after seeing a £600,000 bid rejected in January. A change of manager hadn't put the Hammers off and they apparently offered a deal that could have risen to £1.7m though more than half of that would have been clause based.

Anyone who is in their right mind knows and appreciates that the decision for Dale should be an easy one: Bayern Munich, the European powerhouse, or West Ham United, the club whose owners have more bollocks between them than brain cells.

Although the transfer is all but complete, I do have my reservations about the move.

At Bayern Munich it is unlikely that Jennings will get a look-in with their first team for a good few years at the very least. As good as he is, he still has a lot of work to do before he is anywhere near the standards of players like Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery; though training with players of such quality would only be beneficial for his development.

Or perhaps they could learn something from him? His wonder-goal against Plymouth was one of the strikes of the season and rave reviews soon followed with scouts flocking from across the country and, seemingly, Europe to watch one of the Football League's hottest talents.

Dale's achievements from September onward were encapsulated when he beat Southampton's £10m rated Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to the League One Apprentice of the Year award at the Football League awards ceremony in March.

Obviously, I wish Dale all the best wherever he ends up but my primary concern is for Tranmere Rovers Football Club and I'd prefer it if we got as much money for him as we can. Judging by the fees being reported, this deal will be the most lucrative for us since Ryan Taylor left for Wigan back in 2005.

Plying his trade with the Bayern second team would also mean that we miss out on more money in the transfer as the clauses would presumably be based upon first team appearances; the chances of him getting enough to trigger the clause, in my opinion, are small.

Whereas, at West Ham, the chances of him playing in their first team are a lot higher and would therefore be of more benefit for the player and for us as a club due to the appearance-based clauses in any potential deal.

Jennings moving to Bayern Munich would do wonders for the reputation of our club, which has waned in recent years with players not coming off the production line as frequently as we would have liked. The days of us producing Premier League standard players like Ryan Taylor, Jason Koumas and Steve Simonsen seem distant but there is still a pool of talent out there waiting for an opportunity to shine.

After being released by Liverpool, Dale came to us on trial and managed to earn a scholarship which has led to one of the biggest clubs in Europe vying for his signature. Had he given up and become disillusioned with the game after his release this situation would never have happened.

It is a testament to the attitude of Jennings and the effort of the Tranmere youth system that he was given an opportunity to bounce back in the manner he did to catapult himself firmly into the spotlight and into the top tier of a major European league.