By Daniel Feliciano

5th Jul, 2022 | 6:40am

West Ham could go up to £38.7m to seal deal for Amadou Onana

West Ham could return with a new bid for Amadou Onana next week and could be willing to go as high as £38.7m to seal a deal according to ExWHUemployee.

The Hammers had an opening bid of €23m (£19.8m) rejected on Sunday night [Sky Sports, July 3] and Arsenal are said to be very interested in a deal for the midfielder too.

But Ex told the West Ham Way podcast [July 4] that West Ham could look to do business quickly for the 6ft 5 Belgium international, and while Lille are looking for up to €60m (£51.6m) to do a deal David Moyes is likely to return with a new bid that is lower than that in the “not so distant future”.

“The bid went in for him, Onana his name is, a defensive midfielder who is 6ft 5 and plays for Lille,” he said.

“We put in a bid of around €23m (£19.8m). Arsenal are very keen on the player as well. He’s a Belgium international, he’s got one cap for them. Very highly rated, only young he’s just 20 years of age.

“Definitely, 100% a target. Apparently Lille are looking for up to €60m (£51.6m) for him and want to encourage a bidding war with Arsenal, Monaco might be a club interested, Liverpool possibly, certainly Arsenal to try and get the figure up as close towards €60m as possible.

“West Ham now have a dilemma as to whether they go back in. They won’t offer €60m for him, not for a midfielder who’s not proven. I doubt they’d pay €60m for a player like that, but if they could get him for around €40m (£34.4m) or €45m (£38.7m) possibly then it might be something that we consider.

“And it fits with what Moyes wants to do with the club. Young player that he can develop, has re-sell value. He’s worked well with Belgians before, notably Fellaini, so he has that reputation.

“I think it’s a deal that could be revisited, not in the near future as in this week but maybe next or in the not so distant future.”

Huge

Considering Onana is just 20-years-old and signed for Lille last summer, it’s no surprise that the club are looking to get big bucks for him.

He had a very impressive debut season in Ligue 1 and the Hammers are very keen to bolster their midfield, with Youri Tielemans linked too after losing both Mark Noble to retirement and Alexander Kral back to Spartak Moscow after his loan ended.

Onana only made 11 starts in all competitions though and trying to get over £50m is simply a negotiation tactic because English teams are the interested parties.

But if Onana could join the club and learn his craft from the wonderful Declan Rice, as well as developing under Moyes in the same way that Fellaini did at Everton then it could turn out to be a bargain if the deal can be done for a lower price.

A giant physically, good on the ball and strong positionally, he seems to be the perfect Moyes midfielder and fans should be excited if this one gets over the line.