Improving his defence remains Sam Allardyce’s number one priority with two days left in the January transfer window.
Having brought in Patrick van Aanholt from Sunderland in a £14m deal to plug the hole at left-back, a new centre-back is on Allardyce’s radar and according to Belgian source dhnet.be, Anderlecht’s Kara Mbodji is a player Allardyce wants to bring to south London.
Allardyce was interested in signing Mbodji while he was the West Ham manager back in January 2015 but the Senegalese defender snubbed a move to the Hammers before joining Anderlecht from KRC Genk in August later that year.
The 27-year-old is still wanted on these shores, with Leicester rivalling Palace for his signature. The Foxes have seen two bids turned down by Anderlecht for the centre-back worth €8.8m and €10.5m.
Anderlecht manager René Weiler has claimed that Kara will not be leaving the Belgian club this month amid interest from the Premier League.
“Kara is going to stay! We have goals and he’s an important player who played almost everything before the New Year.”
This has not sat well with the defender who has spent this month at the African Cup of Nations. The report claims that Kara has been sulking about being denied a move and that he is so disappointed that he does not intend on returning to Belgium on Monday.
It’s believed a bid of €15m could be enough to get the deal done. Palace are also interested in signing former Juventus defender Martin Caceres on a free transfer.
