Crystal Palace interested in RB Leipzig’s Christoph Baumgartner | OneFootball

Florian Plettenberg reports that Crystal Palace are interested in acquiring RB Leipzig’s Christoph Baumgartner. Palace’s head coach Oliver Glasner hopes to recruit his Austrian compatriot to South London. Plettenberg does emphasize that neither Palace nor another interested party, Villarreal, have submitted a formal bid to the Bundesliga outfit just yet.

Baumgartner no longer features in the plans of current RB head coach Ole Werner. The 51-times-capped international has only been used off in bench in Leipzig’s two competitive fixtures thus far this year. Baumgartner’s estimated market value has fallen by half (€24m to €12m) since he joined the German Red Bulls on a €25.5m transfer from Hoffenheim in the Summer of 2023.

Leipzig currently carry a 34-man-squad, by far the largest in the Bundesliga, into the start of competitive play. The RB front office shall hope to shed 3-4 players before the transfer window closes on Monday in order to get the payroll in manageable order. The Saxons are carrying several high salary players with little playing prospects such as Timo Werner and Lutsharel Geertruida.

It thus counts as likely that Baumgartner could be on the move despite the fact that only exploratory talks have taken place. Matters might move quickly in the case of the 26-year-old. Yet another Bundesliga professional could be on the move to the Premier League.

GGFN | Peter Weis