Crystal Palace have emerged as a potential suitor for 22-year-old Lyon left-back Farland Mendy, as the club identify potential targets ahead of this summer's transfer window.
Mendy is coming off the back of a stellar breakthrough season at Lyon, having only arrived from Le Havre AC last summer.
According to Sport, Mendy - who has been excellent this season - has attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs, with Crystal Palace thought to hold the strongest interest in the young defender.
However, Crystal Palace could have to compete with Barcelona for the signing, the Catalan club are also keen to strengthen in the left-back position and hold an obvious advantage in the transfer market.
The Eagles' interest in Mendy is curious given their abundance of options at left-back, the presence of Patrick van Aanholt, Jeffery Schlupp and Pape Souare in the squad does not suggest any need for reinforcements.
Nonetheless, there is likely to be a shakeup within the Palace side ahead of next season as Roy Hodgson looks to make the squad his own and this could see the likes of Souare and Schlupp depart the south London club.
Mendy has made 33 appearances for Lyon this term and was one of only two Lyon players - along with Nabil Fekir - to be included in an otherwise Paris Saint-Germain dominated Ligue 1 team of the season.
The youngster is yet another talented graduate of the Le Havre academy and looks set to follow the likes of Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet, Riyad Mahrez and Benjamin Mendy to the Premier League.
- 90Min