Less than two weeks to go in the winter window and West Ham’s “rebalancing” of the squad appears focused on wingers and midfielders with no sign yet of the defensive signings which supporters still feel should be the priority.
News from France last night suggests a recent arrival from the summer window may already be linked with an exit – just a few months after landing at London Stadium.
Nuno is well known to have his Hammers favourites and Soungoutou Magassa’s absence from the squad last weekend as West Ham travelled to Tottenham certainly raised eyebrows.
A possible explanation is offered by getfootballnewsfrance.com who suggest the 21 year old is already the subject of interest from overseas:
“The Frenchman is already attracting interest… the midfielder is the subject of concrete interest from Galatasaray, who would like to sign the player on a loan deal that would include a buy option.
However, the Turkish giants are not the only interested party..There is also interest from two Italian giants in the form of AC Milan and Juventus. Magassa’s stay at the London Stadium may, therefore, ultimately be a brief one.”
You’d have to wonder about Magassa’s future unless he has an undisclosed injury issue: Being absent from the squad – and seeing Guido Rodriguez used as a late defensive substitute in his place might not bode well for the youngster’s place in Nuno’s future West Ham squads.
Surely one to keep hold of, Nuno?
[Edit: training ground sources this morning suggest Magassa may have had a ‘knock’ which is why he wasn’t in the squad against Spurs. We’ll see what we can find out. MT]
Does the board or manager want to sell him or is the player or agent angling for a move?
Makes a big difference.
Good news if it is a knock, he has been good most games it’s natural for a young players form to be up and down, Potts has been a bit up and down too. He might also be the answer at CB definitely worth giving that a try.
An absolutely dreadful decision if true, can play at CB as well and imo is a better prospect than Potts.
Hope they keep him, he could become a great player – just that precious commodity of time + good coaching/management.
I assumed he was being wisely rested as part of juggling a small squad. In some games he is tackling, passing and getting into the box – the latter seems to be part of his natural game. Last game he played he mislaid passes, but that is nothing at his age, it is not lack of ability but there was a lot of pressure in the game just then, but did not stop him from putting in 4 tackles in quick succession, which stopped them in their tracks from playing through the middle.
Would be great to see him and Potts develop together. If Magassa leaves with all his evident talent as well as potential, then nobody is safe. Not surprised others want him.
He is a bit hot and cold for me. He’ll have a good game, especially defensively and then the next he is awful, with poor touches and passing. He was a centre back until last season so maybe play him there as defending seems the strongest part of his game.
Didn’t he get Man of the match award?
Also plays as c/bk a much needed position which needs reinforcing.
Enough players already gone this season.
Nothing this board does would surprise me. Especially selling young promising players that could improve and go up in value. I see the board has put a stop to the Callum Wilson sale to Everton. Perhaps when it occurred to them if he ended up scoring goals for David Moyes at Everton it would make them look very stupid for selling him and they would be even more hated by the fans than they were already.
Not as good as Potts or Souchek unfortunately
I think he could be a really good player as he matures, he has shown loads of promise already, so obviously West Ham will sell him for a nominal fee now