Crystal Palace join West Bromwich Albion in race to sign Tottenham defender Kevin Wimmer

Crystal Palace are attempting to hijack West Bromwich Albion's bid to sign out-of-favour Tottenham defender Kevin Wimmer after being priced out of a move for Liverpool's forgotten man Mamadou Sakho.

Wimmer, valued at £15m according to the Daily Mail, joined Spurs from Bundesliga outfit Koln in the summer of 2015 but has failed to establish himself at north London. The Austria international has found game-time hard to come with players such as Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld ahead of him in the pecking order under Mauricio Pochettino.

Wimmer is held in high regard by Pochettino but the Argentine could only afford him four Premier League starts last season and has recently moved to bolster his backline with the signing of Davinson Sanchez, who could cost Tottenham £42m if he manages to fulfil the add-ons included in the proposed fee. Sanchez may not be the only centre-back that arrives at Tottenham this summer; the Lilywhites hierarchy are in talks to sign Estudiantes defender Juan Foyth.

West Brom have already signed a central defender this summer in the form of Egyptian Ahmed Hegazi, but Tony Pulis is still on the lookout for defensive reinforcements after allowing Jonas Olsson to leave earlier this year, while veteran centre-back Gareth McAuley is very much in the twilight of his career.

With concerns over the future of Jonny Evans still present, Pulis has identified Wimmer and Crystal Palace target Sakho as potential additions to his backline. Many clubs and managers would start to panic at this stage of the transfer window, but Pulis insists he will not sign players who fail to improve West Brom. They have won both of their opening Premier League fixtures by a goal to nil.

"We have to bring in players that are going to improve us and give us competition that's what we need," Pulis said after Saturday's 1-0 win at Burnley. "They have to be better than what we've got - that's the most important thing. In years gone by this club have signed a lot of players who have just been signed, I think, for the sake of filling spaces. We can't do that and we must not do that."

West Brom are not the only club interested in Wimmer, with Crystal Palace and Stoke City also reportedly pursuing the 25-year-old's signature. Palace manager Frank de Boer has already signed defensive compatriots Jairo Riedewald and Timothy Fosu-Mensah but is keen to further strengthen his rearguard this summer. Palace see Wimmer as a more viable option to former loanee Sakho, who is valued at £30m by Liverpool.

The former Paris Saint-Germain performed admirably during his brief stint at Selhurst Park last season, but De Boer, a former centre-back himself, said on Saturday (19 August) that Palace simply cannot afford to meet Liverpool's asking price for the Frenchman, who seemingly has no chance of regaining a first-team spot under Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.

"Everybody knows he [Sakho] had a major impact last season and, when he's available for us, I think that is a quality injection for the club," De Boer said after Palace's loss to Liverpool. "It is not like this now because he is much too expensive for the club."