West Ham United target ‘exciting’ Everton transfer of Amadou Onana amid David Moyes ‘benefit’ verdict
David Moyes would “benefit” Amadou Onana if the Belgian midfielder completes a move from Everton to West Ham this summer, says Paul Brown.
The 21-year-old was a Hammers target a year ago but after the club apparently balked at his wage demands the expected arrival quickly gave way to the Toffees signing him instead.
Now, with the Hammers seeking a replacement for exit-bound captain Declan Rice at the very least in midfield, and Everton possibly needing to sell to buy, Onana is again in their sights [Alan Nixon, 25 June] and Brown believes that the West Ham boss is the man he needs to work under.
Former Daily Star journalist Brown told GIVEMESPORT: “Onana is basically a box-to-box player with a lot of energy, who gets around the pitch and can pressure people.
“I think he is still a bit rough, needs an arm around the shoulder and still needs to learn a lot about Premier League football.
“But I think working with David Moyes would probably benefit him. He could end up being quite an exciting signing if West Ham were to get him.
“I think that if you put the time and effort into developing him, he is going to become a really good player.”
Better late than never
The failure to land Onana a year ago proved to be a mistake as he adapted pretty quickly to the Premier League at Goodison Park and the only central midfield arrival at the London Stadium, Flynn Downes, was rarely trusted at the position.
Tomas Soucek hasn’t been able to match his form from a couple of seasons ago for a while, and now the prospect of a season of Rice and Onana together has gone begging with the captain on his way to Arsenal.
West Ham are now linked to multiple central midfielders, and are likely going to need to land at least a couple when Downes and Soucek might also follow Rice to the exit this summer.
So if Everton are prepared to sell in order to fund incoming transfer business there is logic in making the big Belgian one of them.
Denis Zakaria is another man with Premier League experience, albeit somewhat less, who looks to be on the cards, and the pair should in theory be available with money to spare from the Rice fee.
It is going to be a new-look midfield next term one way or another and if Moyes can bring in Onana and develop him as predicted it could be the ideal way to help fill the gap from the star man’s exit.
In other West Ham news, the Irons are in pole position to seal another incoming transfer deal ahead of multiple league rivals.