Germany legend Lothar Matthaus feels reported Crystal Palace target Filip Kostic is destined for a big move this summer after a series of ‘top notch’ performances in the Bundesliga, while speaking to Sky Deutschland.
While it is fair to say Selhurst Park talisman Wilfried Zaha is hardly an old-school winger, two of the players who have been tipped to replace him in Roy Hodgson’s starting XI are the very definition of a chalk-booted, mid-90s throwback.
Like Burnley’s crossing machine Dwight McNeil, who has been linked with a move to Palace via The Mail, Kostic is at his brilliant best when breezing past full-backs and whipping precision balls into the penalty area.
Criminally underrated outside of the Bundesliga, it felt like only a matter of time before the Eintracht Frankfurt powerhouse found himself in the gossip columns. And, after notching 12 goals and 15 assists this season, that is exactly what has happened.
The Sun (February 23, page 63) reports that Crystal Palace could turn to Kostic if Zaha finally seals that Champions League switch he so clearly craves.
And, if you ask 1990 Ballon D’Or winner Matthaus, Kostic would be worth every penny.
”I assume that he is on the list at some larger clubs and that there is a major transfer due in summer,” Matthaus says. “What he’s been producing so far this season has been top notch.”
Frankfurt chief Wolfgang Steubing admitted to BILD recently that it would be nothing short of a miracle if Kostic was still flying down the flanks at the Commerzbank Arena next season.
And, according to the Frankfurter Rundschau, the 2019 Europa League semi-finalists may be willing to accept offers of £19 million, dropping the Serbian’s price-tag by £16 million due to the financial crisis which has reared it’s ugly head of late.
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