Crystal Palace hoping to sign Ivorian Kouame

Christian Kouame in action

Thursday Dec 17, 2020. 09:01

Premier League club Crystal Palace are reportedly targeting Fiorentina’s Ivorian forward Christian Kouame in a potential £20 million transfer in January 2021.

According to The Sun, Eagles manager Roy Hodgson has been keen to add attacking talent to the team’s squad in the past year.

Kouame was reportedly close to joining Palace in 2019, but the move fell through due to an injury. The 23-year-old instead ended up at Fiorentina on loan earlier this year and has since made the switch to the Viola permanent.

Kouame has scored one goal from 11 Serie A appearances this season and would be seen as adding depth to Palace’s attacking options – especially with Christian Benteke (end of contract) and Michy Batshuayi (end of loan spell from Chelsea) both set to leave the club at the end of the current season.

Kouame has three senior caps for the Ivory Coast to his name, having made his Elephants debut in a friendly win over DR Congo in October 2019.

The Abidjan-born player has also featured for Italian clubs Prato, Cittadella and Genoa, while he had time at Sassuolo and Internazionale in his youth career.