Report: Crystal Palace, Brighton and Watford want Yakou Meite

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Crystal Palace, Watford and Brighton and Hove Albion are all keen to complete a deal to sign Reading ace Yakou Meite, according to The Telegraph.

The 25-year-old has enjoyed a decent goalscoring campaign for the Royals, finding the net on 11 occasions.

He has typically operated on the right-wing, although he has also featured as a striker and on the left-hand side of attack.

Now, Premier League interest is rife, with the trio of clubs set to do battle to land the Championship star.

Meite will have just a year left on his contract in the summer and Reading could choose to cash in on their star man.

The Royals missed out on a play-off place during the final stages of the campaign, despite having held a top-six position for most of the campaign.

Meite signed for the second-tier side in 2018 from French outfit Sochaux. In total, he has made 125 appearances for Reading, scoring 42 goals and claiming five assists.

Watford will go in search of new players after finishing second in the Championship and claiming automatic promotion.

For Crystal Palace and Brighton, they will know they can’t compete with the big-spenders and might view Meite as an affordable option.

TBR View: Other clubs should enter Meite race

At £5 million it seems unlikely that it will remain a three-horse race to secure his services.

The player is quick, powerful and holds the ball up really well to make him an ideal recruit for certain teams.

With the impact of the pandemic and months of playing behind closed doors likely to impact a lot of clubs, money could remain tight.

As a result, someone like Meite could prove ideal and Palace, Brighton and Watford might need to move quickly to sign the forward.