Ibrahim Amadou has impressed in Ligue 1 with Lille and is on the radar of Premier League strugglers West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace.
Crystal Palace’s pursuit of Lille star Ibrahim Amadou has just got a little more complicated.
According to Sky Sports, the Eagles had launched a £16 million bid for the highly-rated stopper on Tuesday, exactly one year after they had first expressed an interest, and held talks, with the Cameroon-born 24-year-old.
But Palace face competition; from one of their potential relegation rivals no less. According to talkSPORT, West Brom are also tracking Amadou and are confident of beating Roy Hodgson’s side to his signature.
Now with both Crystal Palace and West Brom in danger of relegation, whoever wins the race for one of Ligue 1’s rising stars may just give their hopes of survival a major boost.
Amadou can play in defensive midfield but it is more than likely that Palace see him as an addition to their back line. Scott Dann, one of the first names on the Eagles’ team-sheet, is expected to miss the rest of the season after picking up a serious injury against Manchester City, while club-record signing Mamadou Sakho is also on the sidelines for an extended period.
West Brom, meanwhile, may also be in need of defensive reinforcements soon with club captain Jonny Evans interesting of the top names in the division.
Baggies boss Alan Pardew admitted to Sky Sports recently that Evans could be sold in order to raise funds for new additions at a struggling West Brom side under pressure from Financial Fair Play. It remains to be seen whether they need to cash in on the Northern Ireland international to finance a club-record deal for Amadou.
But if West Brom win the race, they would not only enhance their hopes of beating the drop but leave a defensively deficient Palace potentially staring into the mire.
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