Crystal Palace have offered £11million for West Ham midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, according to Claret & Hugh.
The dedicated Hammers website claim that the Eagles will need to up their offer by £4million as the 28-year-old midfielder has a £15million price tag attached to his head.
Claret & Hugh report that £15million is the minimum that Manuel Pellegrini’s side will sell Kouyate for even though the club are ready to cash in on him this summer.
It is believed that the player, who earns £60,000-a-week at the London Stadium (Source: Spot Trac), is also looking for vastly improved personal terms to be offered to him and that his demands could see the deal falter.
OPINION
It seems there are two reasons why this deal will falter. These reasons are if Palace fail to increase their £11million offer for Kouyate or if they fail to offer the player a contract that will convince him to join them. As Kouyate is contracted to the Hammers until 2021 then they are well within their rights to demand £15million for a player that has plenty of Premier League experience. However it is a concern that the 28-year-old midfielder could stop the Hammers raising funds from his sale this summer as he is willing to play hard ball when it comes to getting the personal terms he want. Palace don’t appear to be flushed with cash based on their summer transfer window so far, therefore it’s likely that their pursuit of Kouyate could end with them missing out. Hopefully this isn’t the case as the midfielder is likely to hardly feature under Pellegrini, given all the new faces that have arrived to improve the quality of the club’s midfield options.
