Crystal Palace are planning a January bid for Sunderland defender Lamine Kone.

The Daily Express says Sam Allardyce is hoping to persuade his new bosses to make a £15million bid for a player Sunderland paid Lorient £5million for last January when he was manager.

Kone, now unsettled at Sunderland after Everton tried to sign him in the summer, was one of three key signings Allardyce made and who went on to play a crucial role in saving Sunderland from relegation.

That is why Big Sam now wants him again, despite the fact that Kone has signed a new five-year contract at the Stadium of Light and could be away at the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast for much of next month.