New Crystal Palace signing Doucoure blackmailed with "double identity" claim

New Crystal Palace signing Cheick Doucoure is being blackmailed by a gang, his lawyer has claimed.

The 22-year-old Mali midfielder, who last week signed for the South London side from Lens in a £20m deal, is being targeted by an agent, photographer and journalist who have been threatening to expose Doucoure for having a "double identity" unless he pays them a significant sum.

Doucoure's lawyer, Alexis Rutman, said in a statement that the situation was "very serious" and has vehemently denied any claim of his client having a "double identity."

Palace manager Patrick Vieira has offered support to his new signing and, speaking before tomorrow's friendly against Manchester United in Melbourne, confirmed that he had also spoken to Rutman about the claims.

Rutman said: "Since the announcement of his transfer from RC Lens to Crystal Palace, Mr Cheick Oumar Doucoure and his entourage are victims of blackmail and an attempt at extortion from several individuals acting in concert (a players' agent and a photographer, supported by a journalist), clearly lured by the profits supposedly generated by this transaction.

"These individuals claim, with false evidence, that my client would have a double identity and demand the payment of a sum of money in return for their silence. Several Whatsapp messages to this effect, accompanied by false documents, have thus been addressed to my client and his entourage over the past few days.

"This situation is very serious and obviously unacceptable. My client and his entourage will not yield anything in the face of such actions which expose their perpetrators face severe criminal penalties.

"All appropriate legal actions will therefore be taken, both criminally and civilly, against these three individuals but also against all those who would support, endorse or relay, in any form whatsoever, such actions and/or such slanderous accusations."

Palace have travelled to Australia, and before that Singapore, with only ten senior players owing to injuries and the vaccination status of a number of stars - unvaccinated travellers face a mandatory quarantine when entering the country - and an already tricky tour has been complicated further by the claims around Doucoure.

"I spoke to him [Doucoure] and I spoke to the lawyer as well," Vieira said. "Of course, myself and the club, we are fully supporting the player. This is something that he as a player and us as a football club we cannot accept."

More than 70,000 fans are expected to watch tomorrow's friendly against United at MCG and Vieira is attempting to take the positives from blooding several academy players.

"We have so many young talents in our football and to have this kind of experience for them I think it's something unbelievable for them," he said. "We had some of the young players who never went outside of Europe. Today we are in Australia and we going to play [Manchester] United in front of 75,000, 80,000 people and that is an excitement for them."