West Ham enter race for Crystal Palace defensive target

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West Ham have entered the race for Lille captain Ibrahim Amadou, according to Sky Sports News.

The 24-year-old centre-back is also a target for Crystal Palace, who have had two offers for him rejected.

The most recent was a loan offer with the option to buy, but this is short of Lille’s reported valuation of around £17.6m.

Speaking about Amadou at a press conference on Monday, Eagles boss Roy Hodgson said: “It is another name that has been mentioned, a name that we have talked about.

“But once again it is a deal, or a decision, or a situation that is being dealt with really at the level of the chairman and sporting director, and I am just waiting to see if anything transpires.”

Now, West Ham have made an enquiry for Amadou, who was born in Cameroon, raised in France and was a French youth international.

Lille need to raise €25m (£21.9m) to avoid potential relegation to Ligue 2 for breaking French financial fair play rules, and selling their skipper would bring in a large chunk of that.