West Ham United set for Youssouf Fofana transfer push amid Chelsea interest to prevent Tim Stiedten exit
West Ham are set to make a push to sign Youssouf Fofana “over the coming days” amid tension at the top over the club on transfer targets, Mail Plus reports.
The Hammers are still attempting to find a replacement for now-Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice this summer, and have seen numerous pursuits stall amid disagreements between David Moyes and technical director Tim Steidten over domestic or foreign targets.
Monaco’s Fofana, 24, is now reportedly going to be subject of a stepped up attempt to finally get a midfielder in during this summer, ahead of interest from Chelsea.
According to Simon Jones for The Mail there has been “little movement” after a bid for James Ward-Prowse from Southampton plus talks with Ajax on Edson Alvarez and Manchester United for Scott McTominay, so Fofana will now be the man in the Irons’ sights.
There have been suggestions that Steidten could resign amid the difficulties at the club, despite only arriving at the beginning of July [90min, 25 July], so the Fofana push, along with increased attempts to land left-back Adrien Truffert, is part of a plan to prevent that.
According to Jones: “West Ham’s hierarchy want Steidten to stay so hope a breakthrough on signings can appease all.”
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West Ham probably need at least two midfielders in this summer to both fill the gap left by their talisman and to strengthen the position over all.
Moyes doesn’t seem sold on Flynn Downes and has arguably remained far too sold on Tomas Soucek in the past couple of seasons, so with the pair the only current senior options now it is evident how important it is that the stalemate is broken before the close of the window.
Fofana paired with another, more forward-thinking, new option would fit the bill if the imminent push to land the French international can be successful, before Chelsea give up on Moises Caicedo from Brighton and steal in.
Fofana is presumably a Steidten target given Moyes’ preference to go after those with Premier League experience this summer, so if West Ham do land him from Ligue 1 the manager will need to trust him.
He appeared reluctant to commit to the likes of Gianluca Scamacca and Lucas Paqueta early last season and only the latter really came through it, with the divide between the manager and technical director raising the obvious risk of similar issues.
Perhaps the Irons can reach a compromise and pair one overseas target with one domestic one in the middle, with Ward-Prowse probably the obvious candidate.
Whoever they get in it is going to need to be soon as they are already going to be playing a certain amount of catch-up this close to the start of the season, but it would at least be a positive step if Fofana has been identified as the top man and a concerted push to get him in is about to be made.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers are about to put a contract on the table to sign a talented player on a permanent deal from an English club.