Bakary Sako was expected to return to Crystal Palace once Jason Puncheon joined Tony Pulis’s Championship pacesetters Middlesbrough.
Three months after rejecting a new contract at Crystal Palace and leaving Selhurst Park, Bakary Sako was reportedly set to be offered a shock return to the Premier League side.
The 30-year-old winger has yet to find a new club. And, according to L’Equipe, Crystal Palace contacted him in order to discuss a potential fresh start under Roy Hodgson in English football’s top flight.
A fortnight later, however, and Sako is still a free agent and rumours of a return to London have dissipated somewhat.
London News Online has now shed light on why that is. It is claimed that Palace were forced to back out of a deal to bring Sako back to Selhurst Park after Jason Puncheon’s deadline-day switch to Middlesbrough collapsed.
Puncheon, who has been out of favour under Hodgson, was heavily tipped to reunite with former Eagles boss Tony Pulis at Boro. But a move to the Riverside never materialised, meaning there was no room in Palace’s 25-man Premier League squad for both Sako and Puncheon.
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers favourite has been linked with a return to the Championship of late with Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and West Brom among those linked via the Sun (9 September, page 63).
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