Late on Friday evening, Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla published claims about the future of Christian Kouame, presenting the news as an exclusive.
The 21 year old Genoa player had picked up a knee injury whilst away with the Ivory Coast U23 team, and it was explained this could kill a transfer that was close to being agreed.
Genoa chairman Enrico Preziosi was said to have reached a ‘broad agreement’ to sell the player to a Premier League club.
Newcastle United had been interested, but it was stated ‘all clues lead to Crystal Palace’.
The agreement for the forward was put at €25m plus more in bonuses.
Crystal Palace were in the final stages of negotiations, so, on Friday, it was hoped the knee injury wouldn’t be overly serious.
Unfortunately, medical tests then revealed Kouame has a cruciate ligament injury and he’s set to have an operation today.
That will kill a January transfer to Crystal Palace or anywhere else, and potentially end Genoa’s chances of getting anything like €25m for the player in the future.
