According to Abdellah Boulma, Crystal Palace have submitted a bid for Leeds and West Ham target Ismaila Sarr.
What’s the story?
Well, the RTL Foot journalist believes the south Londoners have firmed up their interest in the Senegal international by making an offer worth €22m (£18m).
It comes after some sources claimed that Leeds were close to signing Sarr, while David Moyes is interested in bringing him to the London Stadium.
However, Crystal Palace seem to be in pole position.
Boulma claims that Watford have rejected the bid, although talks are surely set to continue.
The Athletic believe negotiations have been ongoing for weeks between the Eagles and the Hornets, with Dougie Freedman – Director of Football at Crystal Palace – travelling to St Andrew’s last night to watch Watford’s 1-1 draw with Birmingham.
Sarr was left out of the squad by Rob Edwards as a precaution, due to a hamstring injury.
Interest in the Watford No.23 comes after he recently scored an astonishing goal from inside his own half during a 1-1 draw against West Brom at the Hawthorns.
Leeds & West Ham have work to do as Crystal Palace make progress
In our view, Leeds and West Ham have plenty of groundwork to do if they’re to rival Crystal Palace for Sarr.
The Athletic also mentioned that the Eagles tried to sign the 24-year-old before he joined Watford from Rennes in 2019, and the south Londoners tried again in 2020 when making a £25m bid, after the Hornets were relegated.
Now, Freedman has made another attempt, once again after Watford suffered relegation from the Premier League.
Crystal Palace are clearly huge admirers of Sarr, and we expect them to wrap up a deal – it will take a lot of work from Leeds and West Ham to ruin things for Patrick Vieira, in our view at least.
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