Bayer Leverkusen defender Odilon Kossounou on the verge of moving to the Premier League with Crystal Palace and Newcastle interested

kicker reports that Bayer Leverkusen central defender Odilon Kossounou is on the verge of leaving the club and moving to the Premier League this summer.

Crystal Palace are the club that has been linked with the defender most recently and it would make sense as they have recently sold Joachim Anderson to Fulham while the future of Marc Guehi is also up in the air.

Newcastle are also interested in the Ivorian as they look for a central defender. Newcastle had also shown interest in Kossounou’s defensive partner Edmond Tapsoba, but Leverkusen viewed him as untouchable.

A move to England will bring in around €45m for Leverkusen, with a portion of this going to Kossounou’s former club Club Brugge. The remainder will allow Leverkusen to invest in a replacement for the 24-year-old, with Die Werkself being most recently linked to Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg. 

The 22-year-old will cost around €25m and Leverkusen will face competition from Brentford as van den Berg has stated his desire to play consistently.

GGFN | Jack Meenan