West Ham United want to sign Belgium midfielder Orel Mangala from Stuttgart as Nottingham Forest table bid
West Ham are among a number of clubs who want to sign Stuttgart midfielder Orel Mangala this summer, according to Geislinger Zeitung.
The German newspaper reported via their print edition on Tuesday (19 July, page 14) that London rivals Crystal Palace are also keen while newly-promoted Nottingham Forest have tabled a bid for the 24-year-old Belgium international.
It is understood that although movement is not expected to be “rapid”, Stuttgart are said to want around £12.7million for Mangala, who has two years remaining on his contract at the Bundesliga outfit.
Extra depth
While everyone talks about West Ham’s need for a new striker and possibly a new left-back too, it shouldn’t be ignored that our midfield remains very light too.
Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek were left as the only proper central options when Mark Noble retired and Alex Kral’s loan expired at the end of last season.
Rice and Soucek were worked into the ground by David Moyes due to the fact neither Noble nor Kral were trusted to play regularly as the Irons chased Europa League glory and a top-six finish in the Premier League.
Neither were achieved.
Flynn Downes has since come in from Swansea and we feel as though the boyhood Hammer will be a good addition to Moyes’ squad.
But still, we need at least one more player to come in who can play in that area.
Mangala is mainly a defensive-minded midfielder but he can also play central and attacking roles.
The one-time Belgium international, who made his debut for the Red Devils in March against the Republic of Ireland, played 28 times in the Bundesliga for Stuttgart last season.
If we can chip away at Stuttgart’s asking price, we wouldn’t mind signing the Belgian.
However, £12.7million seems steep at this point and we wouldn’t want to entertain anything near or above that.