West Ham United and Aston Villa want to sign Marseille midfielder Matteo Guendouzi
West Ham and Aston Villa are reportedly keen on securing the services of former Arsenal midfielder and Marseille ace Matteo Geundouzi.
Speaking live on L’Equipe on 28 January, their journalist Mathieu Gregoire both sides are ready to make big offers this month, but they’re not there at the moment, for the France international.
It’s understood that given their league position, the Hammers have a very slim chance of signing the ex-Arsenal midfielder.
Gregoire said, as transcribed by Goal in France, “Guendouzi, we know that English clubs like Aston Villa or West Ham are ready to draw big offers, but today, we are not there yet. 16th in the Premier League, the London club, therefore, has little chance of attracting the Olympian midfielder from a sporting point of view.”
Not needed
The 23-year-old may have 57 games of Premier League football under his belt during his time for Arsenal, but he’s not the assuring presence on and off the ball that the Hammers need.
While he may be younger than Tomas Soucek, he does not offer too much of an upgrade on him and it’s best if Lucas Paqueta plays in midfield along with Declan Rice.
If David Moyes wants to persist with the 4-2-3-1, it makes sense to sign a number 10, rather than a box-to-box midfielder which Guendouzi is.
Time is running out and we’re surprised that they’re not showing any real intent to get another signing over the line as soon as possible.
If the West Ham board have their qualms about Moyes, they should have sacked him before the World Cup break itself.
This is really not helping anyone and the club are also going to soon have to plan for life without Rice as well despite Real Madrid dropping out of the race to sign him.