Soumare may make Premier League switch from Leicester City
By Ethan Henson
Leicester City’s Boubakary Soumare is in line for a permanent transfer to stay in the Premier League. That is according to reports.
The rumoured destination is Selhurst Park, with the Daily Mail suggesting the Frenchman is a target for Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira. The midfielder is yet to feature for the Foxes as they stumbled to just one point from their opening three Premier League games, but it appears Brendan Rodgers might have had a second change in his mindset, having allegedly previously stalled a £15million Monaco transfer due to Soumare’s pre-season performances. The Leicester Mercury last week stated that the No. 42 is unlikely to be involved in a match day squad until his future is resolved.
Palace, who have made a solid start to the 2022/23 campaign, will be looking to push on after an impressive 12th place finish last year, with central midfield an obvious area to strengthen in both depth and quality. The middle of the park is one of the Foxes’ most congested positions, and with one of the supposed issues around Soumare being his mindset, the reduced competition for places at the London club might be an attractive draw.
Leicester academy graduate Jeffrey Schlupp is currently occupying a midfield berth, and with club captain Luka Milivojevic seemingly on the decline, Soumare would fancy his chances of breaking into Vieira’s starting eleven. The East Midlands outfit shelled out over £20million to take the former France Under 21 international from Lille, with whom he had just won the Ligue 1 title, but a combination of poor form and personal issues led to his maiden Premier League season being severely underwhelming.
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The Foxes reportedly have a valuation for the middleman that they won’t drop below, but with incomings dependent on players going out the King Power door, the club might eventually be tempted to cut their losses and sell below their expectation. Only time will tell whether Soumare has a future at the King Power, but for now, it appears the Croydon club are the favourites to land his signature.