After the departure of Reece Burke to Hull City, Cheikhou Kouyaté might just be the next player to leave the Olympic Stadium despite Pedro Obiang being heavily linked with a move away to his former club - Sampdoria.
According to Sky Sports, Crystal Palace "is in talks with West Ham over potential signing of the 28-year-old" who is valued by West Ham at £15m, although the Hammers are ready to listen to offers starting from around £10m.
Another Hammers signing?
Despite strong interest from the Premier League side, it is also rumoured that Kouyate might be used as a part of a deal to bring the FC Porto forward Moussa Marega to London after Andy Carroll's yet another injury setback which leaves him out on the sidelines for at least four next months.
There are other reports that West Ham are interested in the 27-year-old who has scored an impressive 22 goals and also added five assists in 27 games for Porto in their title winning 2017/2018 campaign, and with Portuguese club's apparent want of Kouyate, it could help the Hammers to reduce the £22m fee which is believed to be too much after Manuel's Pellegrini side has already spent over £80m in the transfer market, while bringing in seven new players including the likes of Jack Wilshere, Andriy Yarmolenko and the new record transfer - Felipe Anderson.
It is believed that none of the deals including the midfielder is close to being completed as his wage demands are too high for both Crystal Palace and Porto, which might leave his future to the last days of the transfer window.
Cheikhou Kouyate leaving might also force the club to find a suitable replacement, but with two weeks of the window left, the deal would need to be concluded in the upcoming few days.