The coach of Crystal Palace, the former French world and European champion Patrick Vieira, gave his support on Monday to his new recruit, the Malian midfielder Cheick Doucouré, from Lens, victim of blackmail since his signature in the English clubs.
"I spoke to him, and I spoke to his lawyer too," Vieira told a press conference in Melbourne, where Crystal Palace are due to face Manchester United in a friendly match on Tuesday.
“Of course, both me and the club, we are totally behind our player.
This is something that he as a player, and us as a club, cannot accept,” he added.
On Sunday, Doucouré's lawyer indicated that the player and his entourage had been the targets of blackmail and threats of extortion from "several people".
Double identity and ransom
"These people claim, with falsified evidence, that my client would have a double identity and are asking for the payment of a sum of money against their silence," said Alexis Rutman in a press release quoted in the English press.
"Several WhatsApp messages, accompanied by false documents, have been sent to my client and people around him in the last few days," he said.
Author of a very good season with Lens (7th in Ligue 1), Cheick Doucouré, 22, was one of Patrick Vieira's priority targets to replace English midfielder Conor Gallagher, who returned to Chelsea after a a one-year loan.
His transfer from Lens to Crystal Palace was estimated at 23 million euros.
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