N’Golo Kante offered to Arsenal and Tottenham with West Ham United in transfer talks
N’Golo Kanté has been offered to other Premier League clubs as West Ham pursue a deal to sign him, according to HITC.
Graeme Bailey reported via the outlet’s website on 19 July that the Al-Ittihad player’s agents have offered the Irons the chance to sign him but had also done so to other top flight teams in England, specifically in London.
Arsenal, Tottenham and even an emotional return to Chelsea has therefore been put on the table while Brentford, Crystal Palace and Fulham have been made potential options.
Signing the 33-year-old is not expected to be easy for the Irons thanks to his high wages but sources indicate he would be willing to take a pay cut to move to the London Stadium.
N’Golo Kante could make Chelsea return amid West Ham talks?
It is unclear why Kanté’s agents are trying to engineer him a route back to England after one season away if he said to be happy at Al-Ittihad, although open to a West Ham move [Guardian, 18 July].
His return from injury issues towards the end of his Stamford Bridge career saw him make 44 appearances for the Saudi Pro League side before six starts at Euro 2024 where he was branded “absolutely outstanding” by Gary Neville [ITV, 17 July] for his impressive form.
That may have convinced him and his representatives he has longer at the top level than his fitness struggles previously suggested, although the Irons have already been criticised for even considering a deal based on those concerns [Jacob Steinberg, 19 July].
Fabrizio Romano reported on 19 July that the Hammers have now made the World Cup winner a top target although his club aren’t looking to sell.
So it may prove to be a moot point that the Irons appear to have jumped at the chance to do a deal in a way it doesn’t likely Spurs or Arsenal would have, and a return to Chelsea equally makes little sense.
However few would have expected Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten to be trying to sign the two-time Premier League winner a week ago so the emergence of £20million talks with buy-in from all sides [Guardian, 18 July] goes down as a surprise and maybe nothing can be ruled out.
In other West Ham news, a late hijack attempt has failed as the Irons sold another player on a permanent deal.
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