Crystal Palace and Leicester City have reportedly scouted Vitoria Guimaraes defender Abdul Mumin, who is also on the radars of a few other Premier League clubs.
According to a report from Portuguese publication A Bola, Crystal Palace and Leicester City are the latest Premier League clubs to send scouts to watch Vitoria Guimaraes centre-back Abdul Mumin.
The 23-year-old Mumin started out at the Right To Dream academy in his homeland, Ghana, before switching to Danish outfit FC Nordsjaelland in the summer of 2016. Having risen through the ranks at the club, he went on to make 47 senior appearances, scoring one goal, before he signed for Vitoria Guimaraes last year on a free transfer.
Since arriving in Portugal, Mumin has been slowly growing in stature. Having featured 28 times in all competitions in his debut season with Vitoria, the 23-year-old has played seven times in the 2021/22 campaign so far, including starting each of their last six Primeira Liga fixtures.
While he might not be the biggest name going around, Mumin’s steady development has attracted a lot of interest from the Premier League, as per the aforementioned report. Indeed, the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Aston Villa have watched him in action previously, with Crystal Palace and Leicester City now getting into the act as well.
Crystal Palace are building a young, vibrant squad under new manager Patrick Vieira and look to be headed in the right direction. The Eagles strengthened their defensive unit last summer with the signings of Marc Guehi from Chelsea and Joachim Andersen from Olympique Lyon.
However, senior defender James Tomkins will be turning 33 in March next year, while his contract will also expire at the end of the season. That would leave Palace short on numbers at the heart of the defence, which would make Mumin a viable target for the Londoners to look at. However, they are likely to have to battle Leicester City for the signing of the Ghanaian defender.
Jonny Evans will turn 34 years old in January and has been facing a lot of fitness issues of late. Caglar Soyuncu, meanwhile, has suffered from a dip in form, while he is also being linked with a move to Real Madrid. Wesley Fofana has been sidelined with a long-term injury and he might take time to get back up to speed after returning to action.
As a result, Brendan Rodgers & co. could use another centre-back to bolster their options, with Mumin emerging as a potential target. With both Leicester and Palace keeping tabs on the 23-year-old, it remains to be seen if either club decide to make a formal approach for the Vitoria Guimaraes star.