Brighton could reportedly make Crystal Palace rue Ibrahim Amadou failure

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Premier League strugglers Crystal Palace came so close to signing Lille captain Ibrahim Amadou in January but now rivals Brighton want the Ligue 1 ace.

Ibrahim Amadou took the train to London on transfer deadline day back in January in an attempt to seal a move to Crystal Palace.

The Eagles were desperate to sign the Lille captain at the start of the year and were willing to bring him to Selhurst Park on an initial loan deal with the option to make the deal permanent for a fee of around £16 million, Sky Sports reported.

But with the 2011 Ligue 1 champions fighting against relegation, Lille were obviously not keen to sell their skipper and star man midway through the season with no time to find a replacement and Amadou was denied his move to the Premier League.

It could be a different story at the end of the season, however, and Palace’s failure to get the deal over the line could come back to bite them in the most brutal fashion.

Le 10 Sport is reporting that Palace’s bitter rivals Brighton and Hove Albion are already putting plans in place for the summer transfer window, and it is understood that Amadou is one of the names at the top of Chris Hughton’s wish-list.

The Seagulls reportedly admire Amadou’s versatility. The Cameroon international has played most of this season in defensive midfield, a position where the Seagulls are arguably a little light, but is also more than capable of filling in at centre-half.

But with Brighton and Crystal Palace not yet safe from relegation, each side has a further incentive to pray for their rivals to drop down a division with Amadou at the centre of a tug of war.