West Brom forward Bakary Sako is undergoing a medical at Crystal Palace as he prepares to re-sign for the Londoners, according to the Guardian.
The newspaper claim on their live transfer blog (Friday, 11.14am) that the Mali international, 30, has arrived at the Premier League club’s Beckenham headquarters to complete the formalities of the transfer.
The Guardian report that Palace will effectively take over the six months remaining on Sako’s contract at West Brom in what will be a short-term deal.
OPINION
Given the Guardian’s reliability, this deal is clearly all but done. West Brom fans are unlikely to be too perturbed, especially if their club succeed in their bid to sign Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy before the transfer window shuts. Sako has scored one goal in six appearances for the Baggies and has played second fiddle to Jay Rodriguez, Dwight Gayle, Hal Robson-Kanu and company, and even the recent exit of Harvey Barnes has not brought him into Darren Moore’s starting XI. It is unusual for a player who is not getting much game time at a Championship club to join one in the Premier League club, but Sako’s versatility – he can play out wide or down the middle – makes him attractive to Palace and manager Roy Hodgson. It means he can revive his relationship with the club he left last summer when his contract expired after his 50 appearances for the club had yielded eight goals and one assist.