Youssouf Fofana should be a West Ham United player right now, there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind about that.
And now after a new claim from the Athletic, the West Ham fans will be feeling very angry indeed that we didn’t sign Youssouf Fofana.
West Ham were heavily linked with a move to sign Youssouf Fofana in the summer of 2023, but he remained with Monaco in the end.
Tim Steidten and David Moyes obviously had very different visions for the type of midfielder we needed last summer.
Experienced midfielder James Ward-Prowse moved to the London Stadium from Southampton for around £30 million instead.
Despite the fact that he contributed with plenty of goals and assists, his all-round game was very poor indeed, and his lack of mobility and physicality in the middle of the park really held us back.
How different things could have been…
Youssouf Fofana claim will make West Ham fans feel sick
Whilst the summer transfer window just gone was an incredibly successful one for the Hammers, we’re still counting the cost of the one back in 2023.
David Moyes signed Mohammed Kudus, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Edson Alvarez and Ward-Prowse for a combined £120 million.
The 29-year-old Englishman has already left us to join Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan after failing to impress the new manager.
Things could have been so, so different for the Hammers though it seems.
According to a report from The Athletic, Steidten favoured a move for Fofana instead of Ward-Prowse last summer.
That actually makes me feel sick to the pit of my stomach.
Fofana is streets ahead of Ward-Prowse in every sense, and he’s the type of player that we’re crying out for.
Incredibly, we could have actually picked up the Frenchman for a lot cheaper than the 29-year-old as well!
West Ham made a big Youssouf Fofana mistake
Despite the fantastic transfer window the Hammers have just enjoyed, we are still lacking one particular type of player – a ball carrying midfield powerhouse.
We desperately lack an athletic and mobile central midfielder who can get up and down the pitch throughout the duration of the game.
Fofana would be absolutely perfect for that job, and it really hurts that we didn’t sign him last summer.
With Steidten now holding all the power when it comes to transfers, this kind of mistake shouldn’t happen again.
Lopetegui will give Steidten the player profile that he’s after and then the German will go out and identify targets.
Had West Ham signed Youssouf Fofana instead of James Ward-Prowse last summer, I have no doubts that we would have finished inside the top seven.
Hopefully Lopetegui and Steidten combine to bring in a proper ball-carrying box-to-box midfielder either in January or next summer at the very latest.
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