West Ham United transfer news as scouts sent to watch RC Lens midfielder Seko Fofana
West Ham United sent scouts to watch RC Lens trio Kevin Danso, Seko Fofana and Lois Openda during Lens’ win over Marseille on Saturday, according to 90Min.
The exciting French outfit have been one of the surprise packages in Ligue 1 this season and currently sit second in the table, leapfrogging Marseille with their 2-1 victory at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
And according to 90Min [8 May], a number of Premier League clubs sent scouts to run the rule over three of their most prominent stars in Danso, Openda and Fofana during the game.
West Ham United have previously been linked with Fofana who’s enjoyed another stellar campaign at the club, and 90Min [8 May] reveal that the Hammers still hold a long-standing interest in the midfielder along with Newcastle United and Liverpool.
“90min understands that Reds scouts were also keeping a close eye on the performance of Seko Fofana during the Lens – Marseille game.
“The midfielder is the club captain and signed a new deal at the Ligue 1 outfit last year, but Liverpool as well as Newcastle and West Ham hold a long-standing interest in the player”, the report reveals.
Stellar addition
Fofana spent several years at Manchester City without ever making an appearance for the senior side, enjoying productive loan spells at Fulham and SC Bastia before joining Udinese permanently in 2016.
The 6 foot 1 ace then moved to Lens four years later and has firmly established himself as one of Ligue 1’s top midfielders ever since – leading to several interest from Premier League outfits and West Ham United would certainly be smart to move for his services this summer.
With the Hammers potentially losing several of their key players this summer, including the likes of Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek, they will be desperate for some midfield reinforcements, and going for a player as experienced and as gifted as Fofana makes perfect sense.
In 109 RC Lens appearances, the box-to-box dynamo has racked up 30 goal contributions, leading to journalist Said Amdaa hailing him as “unplayable,” and his underlying numbers are even more impressive.
As per FBref, Fofana has ranked in the 97th percentile for total shots, 97th for dribbles completed and progressive passes received, 96th for touches in the attacking penalty area, and 98th for progressive carries amongst his positional peers over the last year.
These are numbers which highlight his incredible influence both in the midfield third and the final third – characteristics which will be desperately needed in East London next season, especially in Rice’s absence. A potential stellar addition.