West Ham United must secure early deal to sign Azzedine Ounahi as Declan Rice replacement
West Ham have a huge chance to agree a deal ahead of competitors for the signing of Azzedine Ounahi in January after their latest demands emerged.
The Morocco midfielder was in excellent form for the Atlas Lions as they became the first African side to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, earning a fourth-placed finish in the process.
Those performances helped him to attract the interest of several clubs across Europe, including the likes of Barcelona, Leeds, Leicester and West Ham too according to reports.
A fresh report from L’Equipe (20 December) claims that the Foxes are keen to make a move to sign the 22-year-old central midfielder in January and are willing to offer up to £39.5m to get a deal done.
But the report also claims that his current club Angers have set another demand for a deal to be done. The Ligue 1 outfit want any deal to include Ounahi being loaned back to them for the remainder of the season as they look to avoid relegation.
While some clubs won’t be interested in that demand and will look to negotiate it out of any deal, it could actually work in West Ham’s favour.
The club are already aware of his qualities and talents having seen him at the World Cup, but with Nayef Aguerd they also hold the advantage of having a current international teammate as part of their squad to help him settle.
On top of that is the fact that the club know they are likely to lose Declan Rice this summer, with Chelsea expected to “come in big” when he asks to leave during the transfer window.
That means the entire world will be aware of the amount of money they have to spend to replace him, but the club can get a head start by sealing a deal for Ounahi to replace him in January.
Midfield reinforcements are needed and spending the Rice transfer money in advance, while agreeing to the terms that Angers have set out would be perfect for everyone involved.
Ounahi gets his big move but doesn’t have to join mid-season with expectations at an all-time high, West Ham sort a replacement for Rice early and bring in one of the hottest properties in Europe ahead of plenty of competition and Angers get to keep him on loan for the remainder of the season.