By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
It was only a matter of time before bigger clubs started sitting up and taking notice of Mohamadou Kanté.
West Ham reportedly valued the midfielder at around £20m during the summer, with interest already there from elsewhere in Europe. Thankfully, the Hammers kept him — and we’re now starting to see exactly why that was so important.
For me, this was always going to be a breakout season for Kanté.
West Ham Must Not Cash In
In this video, I discuss the growing interest in Kanté and why West Ham must resist any temptation to turn another talented young player into a quick profit.
If he continues developing at his current rate, that £20m valuation could quite easily become £40m by the end of this season. Perhaps even more once he’s proving himself in the Premier League.
But that’s precisely the point.
West Ham shouldn’t be preparing Kanté for somebody else. This Championship season should be about developing him alongside the team so that both are ready for the Premier League.
We’ve already sold enough players.
Kanté has the talent, determination and opportunity to become a huge player for West Ham. This time, the ambition has to be keeping him rather than wondering how much we can get for him.
Fiorentina a big club i had to laugh at that……we are a far bigger club than them and have more to offer…once his first touch has improved this young man is only going to get better and better..keep him grounded make sure his Agent isn’t a dick and just looking to boost his own bank balance with a move that serves him better than his client…Show the player how much we value him in the squad and i am sure he will happily sign until we eventually get an offer we cannot refuse.
£40 million is a joke. Nobody would pay that much for a back up championship player. He’s maybe worth 10 million. He has impressed this season with some of his powerful runs with the ball and a couple of goals but his passing ability and decision making on the ball is atrocious at times. Until he improves that side of his game we don’t need to worry about a big club poaching him.
He will be valued at £100m in the not too distant future. A superb prospect.
I agree Kris we should be developing players for our future not for anyone else
Hopefully next season Kante and Engels will be holding their own in the Premier League
He’ll only be worth that much when he improves his passing and cuts out the errors
At the moment he’s more Kouyate than Viera
He will eventually be more valuable than Rice was without a doubt