Premier League strugglers Swansea City and Crystal Palace have missed out on a huge transfer target.
Swansea City and Crystal Palace have been handed a substantial blow in their hopes of avoiding relegation with reported target Paul-Georges Ntep opting to sign for Wolfsburg instead.
The struggling duo remain mired in the Premier League’s bottom four and both rolled the dice recently, Palace bringing in veteran drop-dodger Sam Allardyce while The Swans ventured down a different route entirely with Paul Clement, a promising coach but an unproven manager.
However, regardless of the ability of their tacticians, Palace and Swansea continue to suffer from a dearth of quality in the final third, meaning the signing of French Under-21 international Ntep would have made perfect sense.
The Rennes winger was out of contract at the end of the season and, after a dry spell last season, has assisted five goals in Ligue 1 in the opening months of 2016/17.
The Sun claimed that Swansea were willing to pay £8 million to improve their options in wide areas and potentially get the best out of Fernando Llorente while the Evening Standard reported that Palace were keen on teaming Ntep up with Wilfried Zaha on the flanks.
However, Bundesliga strugglers Wolfsburg have steamed in to snap up one of France’s most exciting prospects, putting the money gained from Julian Draxler’s PSG move to good use as they aim to pull clear of the relegation zone in their own division.
Therefore, Allardyce and Clement will be forced to search elsewhere but Ntep, a young, lightning quick winger with statistically-proven end product, would surely have been the perfect addition for two sides reliant upon orthodox targetmen for goals.
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