OPINION
West Ham must shove Everton and Brighton out of the way and hijack their battle to sign Charlton whizzkid Ezri Konsa.
The Daily Mirror Live Transfer Blog (Sunday, 22:14) revealed that the two Premier League sides were in a £5million duel for the highly-rated 20-year-old centre-back as they were both planning to swoop for his services.
It is believed that Charlton are resigned to losing one of England’s best youth prospects after failing to win promotion to the Championship.
Konsa, who is also a capable right-back and to some degree a defensive midfielder, rose through the Addicks’ youth system to establish himself as a regular fixture of their first-team side.
Despite only being 20-years-old, the whizzkid has already featured 71 times for the London-based side in League One during his career and looks capable of playing at a much higher level.
According to the newspaper this is a view clearly shared by Seagulls manager Chris Hughton who wants to sign the player to add depth to his squad , instead of just making the signing with the future in mind.
The Brighton boss has the right idea and that’s why West Ham need to intervene now and grab one of the best talents potentially on the market this summer.
While £5million may sound a lot to pay on a talent who not only hasn’t dabbled with Premier League football but hasn’t touched Championship football either, it’s actually a bargain price to pay.
Just look at the success Tottenham had by scooping up Dele Alli, who cost them £5million according to BBC Sport, from League One when they signed him from MK Dons.
Konsa has already shown enough potential to imply that within a few seasons and the right guidance, his price tag will be at least triple that.
The England U-20 international, he has five caps to his name, is the type of player Manuel Pellegrini should be recruiting if he is serious about building a bright long-term future for the Hammers.
Therefore Pellegrini’s side must enter the race and push their competition out of the way as signing Konsa for anywhere near the fee of £5million will prove to be a bargain deal sooner rather than later.
