Sunderland defender Lamine Kone has a clause in his contract which allows him to leave in the January transfer window for £18million, according to the Mirror. The Ivory Coast international joined from Lorient for just £6million last January but it seems the Hammers are prepared to pay a premium to shore up their leaky defence.
Slaven Bilic’s side hung on to a creditable 2-2 draw at Anfield yesterday but despite switching to a back four, after playing most of this campaign with three at the back, West Ham failed once again to keep a clean sheet.
The Hammers concede on average two goals every game at the moment with 31 goals conceded in 15 league games. It is hoped the purchase of Kone will help to address this major problem and enable the London club to move up the table.
The 27 year old only signed a new five year contract to stay at the Stadium of Light in September but if West Ham activate the clause, the Black Cats will be powerless to stop Kone from leaving.
