Crystal Palace and Newcastle United may have been handed encouragement to move for Bayer Leverkusen’s Odilon Kossonou.
That’s if the latest comments from sporting director Simon Rolfes are anything to by, with him confirming a transfer is very possible to Sport.de.
Kossonou has been linked with a move to the Premier League over the last week, with Crystal Palace first being credited with an interest.
They’re on the hunt for a new centre back as Joachim Andersen is on the verge of joining Fulham. They could also lose Marc Guehi as Newcastle United continue to chase a big money move for him.
It was claimed earlier this month that they had already reached an agreement with Kossounou about a potential transfer.
Newcastle were then thrown into the mix, with it explained in Germany that their frustration over the failure to secure Guehi could see them turn to Kossounou.
It was made clear in Germany that Bayer Leverkusen aren’t particularly interested in a sale, although their stance could change if they were to seal a deal for Liverpool’s Sepp van den Berg.
In the meantime, Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes has been asked about the player and may have inadvertently given hope to Crystal Palace and Newcastle in the process.
“In principle, we are also planning with Odilon,” he said.
“Because we saw last year that he was a player with a lot of quality and a lot of potential. (But) they (players) have the feeling: ‘Okay, how much playing time can I get, what is my perspective? And then sometimes they get the idea or consider being able to change again.
“I can’t say that,” he added when asked about whether a transfer will happen.
“But in principle he is actually a player with whom we are planning. But of course, it is possible that there will be one or two changes in our squad.”
