The interest in N’Golo Kanté may have been ‘real’ from West Ham United’s point of view. Certainly our source, highly placed within the club confirmed it was.
The likelihood of The Irons ever completing a deal certainly seemed remote to onlookers and commenters alike (but – what do we know). From the eye watering wages, twenty-million plus required to sign the 33 year old and the profile of the player being against everything which Steidten and Lopegegui have publicly proclaimed as the future, nothing seemed to ‘fit’ yet West Ham were there, negotiating for his acquisition.
Well, I for one am glad that the player has told his club that he is happy to say. So this interest is now , presumably, dead in the water: Ben Jacobs, Senior Correspondent @GiveMeSport confirmed on his ‘X’account: ‘N’Golo Kante has now told Al-Ittihad he’s happy to stay. West Ham have seen a £15m offer rejected. Ittihad don’t want to sell’.
Perhaps we can now focus our energy as a club on securing the players we need who DO want to come to East London. Instead of pursuing those we cannot afford or who don’t want to be part of our ‘project’ – why not focus solely on those who will buy into our squad rebuild, our management and coaching style and the wages and lifestyle West Ham offer. It won’t be for everyone but maybe focus on those who are genuinely interested and willing, instead of doing a Lingard.
To use the house buying analogy, we do seem to be wasting a lot of time cruising up and down the nicest streets dreaming of owning particular houses, without actually checking they are for sale or even within our budget before marching up to the door and announcing we want to buy them.
I’m so glad, why can’t we invest in some young English talent ? We are always buying aging players let’s start building a future.
Wan Bissaka for less than the price of Flynn Downes sounds like a deal WH should close by COB tomorrow, so what am I missing? Is the player reluctant to join, are WH not sure he represents an improvement on Coufal, is he carrying an injury? Is this new price of 10M legit or more press fabrication? WH have been associated with him for some time, but it is looking increasingly like he will become another Cole Palmer or Harvey Barnes, another one that got away. Please explain.
Gosh, this isn’t journalism. This is pure opinion, wrapped up as fact, gilded with negativity and tied with a bow of pure mis-representation. Usual dross from C&H.
For a start, there are plenty of players still delivering well into their 30s nowadays. And Kante is one of them. He was a stand-out player at the Euros.
He almost certainly wouldn’t sign for wages that are outside of the wage structure, which West Ham have been quite strict about.
Him saying he’s happy to stay isn’t the same as saying he wants to stay. By all accounts, the Saudi league might be happy to cash in on an asset which will have no value in a few years if he stays. Either his agent or his club are putting him in the shop window or West Ham wouldn’t go sniffing.
Older players are very important in a squad in part because of what they can pass on valuable knowledge to younger players. And Steidten appears to be happy to blend youth and experience given his signings so far. Sensible and even inspired recruitment if it happens.
Most serious injury he’s ever had is a hamstring tear, a few years ago, which he has healed from. For a player of his type, doing very fast sprints, it is not uncommon to have had hamstring problems on and off.
Almost every fan from other clubs acknowledge how good it would be to have him back in the Prem. A massively respected player.
Your write up is completely true.
You wouldn’t go looking at Ferrari’s if you could only afford a mini.
WHU need to take this on board and stop wasting time
It’s been suggested that Summerville is available he is same as Tomori both out of budget.
Forget them and concentrate on lower priced players and get some deals done.
Why do we want kante anyway his past it why spend all that money on his wages,
When you can get a decent young player for that.
Yes Bill totally agree Toney and Mactominay
Get Mctominay in. He is the best available then go and get Ivan Toney.
There was never a second in which I thought this might happen. It would have been hard to make up anything that seemed more unlikely.