Crystal Palace fear that Cheick Doucouré could miss the rest of the season after injuring his achilles during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Luton that also saw Eberechi Eze suffer an injury setback.
Doucouré, who attracted strong interest from Liverpool in the summer after being named as Palace’s player of the year last season, left Kenilworth Road on crutches after being taken off on a stretcher in the 54th minute. Palace’s manager, Roy Hodgson, admitted after the game that the 23-year-old “is not going to be out for a short period of time” and it is understood that Palace now believe that he could be out for up to six months.
That means Mali international Doucouré will definitely miss the African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, which starts in January.
Palace remain hopeful that Eze’s ankle injury will not prevent the England midfielder from missing too many matches having only just returned after a month on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury. Eze went down before half-time after a coming together with Luton defender Gabriel Osho and was withdrawn moments into the second half.
Meanwhile, Swansea have signed former Palace and Everton winger Yannick Bolasie on a two-month deal. The 34-year-old, who has played 162 times in the Premier League, was a free agent after leaving the Turkish side Caykur Rizespor at the end of last season.
He last played in England for Middlesbrough three years ago on loan from Everton, who paid £25m to take him from Selhurst Park in 2016.
