West Ham are looking at the possibility of bringing in SM Caen midfielder N’Golo Kante.
According to L’Equipe, the Hammers are poised to make a move for the midfielder after he was spotted leaving training before anyone else yesterday morning. Leicester and Marseille are understood to have already made offers for the 24-year-old but they have not developed into further negotiations at this time.
West Ham are in need of signing a replacement for Alex Song who will still sign for the Irons but could miss the first three months of the season due to injury.
N’Golo Kante could cost around £8 million and would provide perfect cover as well as further competition in a solid midfield.
The Frenchman performed well last season and possesses similar attributes to Alex Song. He is composed on the ball but is also a very strong figure who is good in the tackle. The only difference is that Kante tends to dribble more often, looking to carry the ball rather than pick an intrinsic pass forward which tends to be Song’s preferred playing style.
Hammers fans will be wanting the club to move for a striker but a replacement for Song has become a bit of a priority in recent weeks, especially after it became clear that Lassana Diarra would not be joining the club despite him training with West Ham for a significant period last season.
As you can see below, N’Golo Kante was in impressive form last season and his stats look good compared to West Ham’s current midfield. The amount of games he played should also be a big positive as it shows he has a good fitness record.
Image courtesy of squawka.com
Kante would be a great addition – we should still sign Song on free even though he wont be fit until after January, his quality and experience will serve us well and hes already shown us that he can make a huge difference to the team despite losing some form later in the season – at the very least this would give Bilic a few selection headaches, but also provide decent squad rotation without losing quality – from a creativity perspective they are looking to Hallovic from Barca on loan, but we are in desperate need of a decent quality forward who can grab 15+ a season to compliment Sakho.