Oliver Glasner has revealed that Romain Esse’s “great character” was a major reason behind Crystal Palace’s decision to sign the teenager from Millwall.

The 19-year-old winger was announced on Saturday morning as the first signing of the month by Palace after the Eagles agreed a deal worth £12million plus £2.5m in add-ons to sign him from Millwall.

Glasner hailed Palace’s scouting department for spotting Esse’s talents early, before joking that he was only signed because he lives a three-minute walk from the training ground, making his commute good for the planet.

“I’m delighted that Romain joins us and can now train with us,” said Glasner, speaking after a Jean-Philippe Mateta double saw the Eagles win 2-0 at West Ham on Saturday to move 12th in the Premier League table.

“He will be a typical Crystal Palace signing — a young player from the Championship that we will help in his development. This is what we will do with Romain.

“We are convinced of his skills. Left foot, good first touch, understanding of the game and finding spaces. Then we will work with him and support him to improve. It gives us one more option in attack.”

Asked why the club prioritised signing Esse over other targets, Glasner quipped: “We said, ‘Who is living closest to the training ground? Then we will sign him.’ It was Romain, because he can walk over — it’s just a three-minute walk. It’s sustainability. He doesn’t need a car. He can walk tomorrow.”

Answering the same question more seriously, he said: “Of course, Dougie [Freedman] has known of him longer. We have a great scouting team.

“We analyse our games and then ask which profile we could add to the team that we don’t [already] have.

“I think his numbers are not extraordinary in the Championship. But he’s 19.

“The second part is that he’s a great character. Dougie knows him very, very well. I also had a talk with him. He’s listening and he wants to improve and learn. Having great skills and having this character is what we want.

“To be a little bit critical, it took a little bit too long to get the signing done. But it’s better in the middle of the transfer window than at the end.”