According to the Daily Mail, Crystal Palace now want to sign Boubakary Soumare from Leicester, who rejected Arsenal in 2021.
What’s the story?
Well, the £83,000-a-week man was one of the hottest properties around when Leicester signed him from Lille in July 2021, after he helped the French side beat Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 title.
Arsenal were also keen, and the Gunners fans called it “another Kante moment” after missing out on Soumare – famously, the north Londoners ignored the chance to sign N’Golo Kante before his famous £5.6m move to Leicester.
Unfortunately, things haven’t been easy for the £23m man at the King Power Stadium, and he is yet to play this season after finding himself out of the squad towards the end of last term.
Now, Crystal Palace want to take advantage and pursue the man who has been compared to Paul Pogba.
The south Londoners – who are also interested in a move for Lyon maestro Houssem Aouar – are keen to offer Soumare a lifeline in SE25, and Leicester are open to selling if they can recoup their £23m fee, according to the Daily Mail.
It comes after Monaco saw a £15m bid rejected for the 23-year-old.
Soumare was left out of the final five Premier League squads by Brendan Rodgers last season, and his future in the Midlands seems bleak, to say the least.
Arsenal should rival Crystal Palace for Boubakary Soumare
In our view, Arsenal should resurrect their interest in Soumare, now he is up for sale.
It was only 12 months ago that Mikel Arteta expressed a desire to sign the Frenchman, and with interest in his Leicester teammate Youri Tielemans, it is clear that the Spaniard wants a new midfielder.
Therefore, if talks fail to progress over a deal for the Belgian, it wouldn’t be the worst move in the world for Arsenal to take Soumare – perhaps on an initial loan deal with an option to buy.
The Leicester No.42 hasn’t just become a bad footballer overnight, and if Patrick Vieira or Arteta can get him back to the level he was showing at Lille, it could be some shrewd business.
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