West Ham will have to pay £12 million to land Nantes midfielder Abdoulaye Toure in January, according to Football Insider.
The Hammers are understood to be keen on the 25-year-old, who is said to be attracting interest from a number of top European sides.
The report also suggests that the player’s agent, Mark Mackay, has been given a mandate to sell the Frenchman should any club show enough interest to lire him away from the Ligue 1 side.
OPINION
The big question here is clearly “is Toure worth that much?” The thing is, £12 million is nothing in this inflated market, so honestly, you’re going to struggle to recruit even a half-decent player for less than that. In fairness to Toure, he looks more than half-decent. The Frenchman seems to fit the bill of that energetic, box-to-box midfielder that the Irons are craving perfectly. So far this term he has three goals from a defensive midfield berth, and has averaged 1.4 shots, and 1.2 successful dribbles per game, as per Whoscored. Moreover, he has managed 1.2 tackles and a pass completion rate of 85.9%. Now, none of those numbers are going to set any records, but the paint a picture of a well-rounded, complete midfielder. Given their lack of depth in that position, that’s just what Manuel Pellegrini’s boys need right now. At 6’1″, he won’t get bullied too much either, and if £12 million is his price, it could prove to be a sound investment.
