Only making six appearances totalling 76 minutes on the pitch this season, it’s fair to say that Arouna Koné isn’t exactly a big part of Ronald Koeman’s plans at Everton.
The 33-year-old, who arrived at Goodison Park from Wigan back in 2013 when Roberto Martinez was manager, will see his current contract with the Premier League club run out this summer, and with the Toffees unlikely to offer him an extension, a free transfer beckons.
However, Football.fr in France claim that a couple of top flight clubs would still be interested in his services for the second half of the season, with a January transfer a possibility.
The French website claim both Crystal Palace and Swansea City are interested in the Ivory Coast international, which isn’t all that surprising.
Both the Eagles and the Swans are struggling this season, and with the pair recently appointing new managers, new targets emerge on the transfer market. Sam Allardyce has made no secret of his wish to recruit at Crystal Palace, and Paul Clement will surely want to do similar at Swansea.
Koné would be a cheap option for either side, and one with a fair amount of Premier League experience under his belt (17 goals in 79 appearances).
As for the legitimacy of the source, you’d think there are better players to make up stories about than Everton’s Arouna Koné, leading us to believe there might be something behind this after all.
