West Ham United already have a plan for how they will reinvest some of the £85 million brought in by Mateus Fernandes’ move to Tottenham Hotspur.
It is a target that pre-dates the expected arrival of Nils Koppen, but one that the Belgian recruitment chief would presumably be pretty happy to put his name to.
During spells as the technical director at PSV Eindhoven and Rangers, Koppen prioritised young, technically-gifted, ambitious footballers.
Nils Koppen helped build PSV’s title-winning squad! What do you want from him at West Ham?
He talked about the need to be ‘creative’ and ‘think outside the box’; thus, bringing in little-known players from less-familiar markets. See Hamza Igamane from Morocco, Ismael Saibari and Johan Bakayoko from academy football in his native Belgium.
On the day that Bayern Munich completed the £52 million signing of Saibari – yet another Koppen signing to be sold on for a considerable profit – West Ham United insider ExWhuEmployee talked up the potential arrival of Martin Adeline in East London.
Fresh off a superb season in the French second tier, and likely available for a minor fraction of the £85 million Tottenham are spending on Mateus Fernandes?
Links with ESTAC Troyes playmaker Adeline emerged before Koppen emerged as the frontrunner for a director role at the London Stadium. But a player of Adeline’s profile and price-tag would certainly be a fitting way to kick-start the Koppen era.
West Ham United want Martin Adeline to replace Spurs-bound Mateus Fernandes
Capped by France at Under-20 level, Adeline racked up 11 goals and 13 assists as Troyes secured promotion to Ligue 1 last season.
“One potential replacement for Fernandes who will remain a top prospect despite Koppen’s arrival, is Martin Adeline from Troyes,” Ex tells West Ham Way. “We exclusively revealed interest in him at the start of the window, and this interest still remains.”
Ex says that there is interest from Hamburg, Lorient and a Lens side who can offer Champions League football after finishing only six points behind Paris Saint-Germain last season.
West Ham may be stuck in the second tier, but they will soon have 85 million reasons to feel pretty confident.
“Once the Fernandes money arrives at the club, we are expected to make a move for the Frenchman,” ex says. “We have produced a list of other targets that could be alternative targets as well, but Adeline remains a key target for now.”
Adeline has some key talents in common with Fernandes
During his early days, Adeline was described as an ‘exceptional midfield destroyer’. He played in a deeper role for France’s youth sides. Comparisons were even drawn with N’Golo Kante, arguably the greatest ball-winning enforcer of the 21st Century.
The Adeline who fired Troyes to promotion with 24 goals and assists in 36 games is a different, more attack-minded beast.
“Martin is a modern midfielder,” Franck Chalencon, a former coach at Reims, told Liberation. “He is capable of breaking lines with his passing, but he also puts in immense physical effort. He has an exceptional engine and great intensity.
“What stands out most about him is his intelligence; he understands tactical instructions instantly and applies them flawlessly on the pitch.”
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The combination of craft, guile and ‘immense physical effort’ – coupled with an ‘exceptional engine and great intensity’ – certainly reinforces the idea that Adeline has a lot of the qualities needed in a post-Mateus Fernandes era.
As things stand, Troyes’ demands remain a mystery. The Ligue 1 newcomers are a member of the City Football Group; meaning that Koppen will presumably have to pay a lot more than he spent on, say, the £200,000 Saibari or the £1.7 million Igamane.
Adeline topped the charts in the French second division last season with 10 assists. He also boasted the league’s eighth-best conversion rate, while only Troyes teammate Tawfik Bentayeb accumulated greater combined G/A figures.
Adeline ranked second across the competition for fouls committed as well, showing that the bite and aggression that characterised his younger days has not left him.
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