Crystal Palace are monitoring Mamadou Sangare as reinforcements are targeted in central midfield.
Sky Sports believe the Eagles are ‘having a look’ at the Mali international after hiring Pierre Sage – the man who coached the rising African star at RC Lens last season, winning the French Cup together.
As Crystal Palace lurk around Lens – Ismaelo Ganiou is also a target – let us take a look at what Sangare could bring to Selhurst Park if a move materialises.
Initial thoughts on Pierre Sage? 🤔
He can boast a 67.5% win ratio from 40 games at RC Lens 😍
Crystal Palace may reunite Pierre Sage with his “joyful” midfield maestro
This would be some signing if the UEFA Conference League winners can pull it off.
Sangare only joined RC Lens as recently as August 2025 in a £7m move from Rapid Wien – who he signed for in July 2024 after emerging through the Red Bull system at Salzburg.
The RC Lens No.8 went on to enjoy a spectacular debut campaign in France, scoring three goals and providing four assists across 29 appearances in Ligue 1 to help Sage finish second behind PSG.
Sangare operates a bit like Adam Wharton – albeit more of a midfielder who crashes the box and tries to notch a goal involvement. The Malian is a left-footed operator like the England international, and appears slightly more nippy than the Crystal Palace No.20, which helps him cover the ground more effectively.
Foot Mercato believe RC Lens want €50m (£43m) to sell the 24-year-old this summer, a fair demand considering he is under contract until July 2030 and is currently one of the best talents in Europe.
Manchester United are also keen, but the connection with Sage could make a difference.
The new Crystal Palace boss loved working with Sangare last term. Foot Mercato quote the 47-year-old as saying: “He is a joyful player in the sense that he is very positive in what he does because, as soon as he has the ball, he wants to play. At Le Havre [during his debut minutes] he lost his first four or five balls, but he never stopped trying. He has a very positive relationship with the game.
“It’s very easy to welcome a player like that and integrate him into a collective. I know his environment quite well and, when I was told about his qualities, I quickly trusted those people. When we saw the videos, when we observed him, we quickly realised that it wasn’t just the wrapping paper that was beautiful.”
Some may question why Crystal Palace would spend £43m on Sangare when they already have a strong midfield pairing of Wharton and Daichi Kamada.
However, given the similarities between Sangare and Wharton, it would not surprise us if the RC Lens No.8 was brought in early ahead of a potential departure for the Blackburn academy graduate in 2027 – similarly to how Jaydee Canvot was signed from Toulouse six months before Marc Guehi was sold to Manchester City.
Who is your DREAM signing? ⭐️
- Full name: Mamadou Sangare
- Age: 24
- Date of birth: 26 June 2002
- Height: 1.78m (5ft 10in)
- Nationality: Malian
- Place of birth: Bamako
- Club: RC Lens
- Position: Central midfielder
