Bakary Sako wants to stay at Crystal Palace and fight for his place, insists Sam Allardyce

Staying put: Bakary Sako
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Sam Long6 January 2017

Bakary Sako has voiced a desire to stay at Crystal Palace and help the club stay in the Premier League, according to Sam Allardyce.

Sako joined Palace on a free transfer in August 2015, having impressed during a spell in the Championship with Wolves.

But the 28-year-old has failed to establish himself at Selhurst Park and Standard Sport understands Birmingham City lodged a £4million bid for Sako earlier this week.

Blues boss Gianfranco Zola wants to add to his squad as he plots a return to the top-flight and has already spent £1million to turn Lukas Jutkiewicz's loan from Burnley into a permanent deal.

However, Sako appears to have rejected the possibility of leaving south London and is keen to play his part for the Eagles during the second half of the season.

"Bakary has expressed a wish to stay and fight to keep Crystal Palace in the Premier League," Allardyce said.

Sako has made just five appearance for Palace this season, featuring once since Allardyce succeeded Alan Pardew.

The Mali international is set to miss the next few weeks of the campaign as he has been included in his nation's final squad for the African Cup of Nations.

Meanwhile, Palace face Bolton in the FA Cup third round on Saturday afternoon and Allardyce is expecting a hectic workload during January as he juggles his side's League campaign with potential transfer business.

"It's going to be a difficult January. We need to get as many of these players fit.

"I hope Bakary Sako and Wilfried Zaha don't get injured on international.

"On top of that I'll be working with the chairman on transfers. It's a heck of a workload," Allardyce insisted.

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