Crystal Palace reportedly are lining up a bid for Sunderland defender Lamine Kone.
According to Daily Mirror, Crystal Palace are lining up a bid for Sunderland defender Lamine Kone in the summer.
And, going by Sam Allardyce’s comments about the defender, when he was in charge at the Stadium of Light, it is hardly a surprise to see the Selhurst Park club interested in the Ivorian.
Allardyce signed Kone for Sunderland back in January 2016, and the powerful centre-back played a vital role in keeping the Black Cats up last season.
Kone was rock solid at the back, and even chipped in in an attacking sense, as he scored a few crucial goals.
And Allardyce said to Sky Sports, after Sunderland’s survival was confirmed: “He’s a proper centre-half who knows how to defend. Whoever has brought him up and coached him has coached him how to defend, not come sweeping out of the back with the ball and play this pass and that pass.
“All that rubbish that pundits go on about, saying, ‘he’s a good centre-half because he comes out of the back with the ball and passes it’ – he’s there to defend.
“Defenders are there to defend, their first job is to defend and then play after, and if they can’t defend, then they can’t play at centre-half, certainly not at the top level.”
Kone’s standards have dipped since Allardyce’s departure from Sunderland, and he has not maintained the same standard of performance.
However, it is clear that Allardyce is confident that he can get the best back out of 28-year-old again.
And if Palace do make a bid for the Sunderland man in the summer, it will surely be one of the most inevitable transfers of the summer.
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