West Ham’s hopes of automatic promotion back to the Premier League have been boosted after key star Soungoutou Magassa publicly declared he is staying amid links with a move away.
Hammers fans believe Soungoutou Magassa has a big future in the game but it seemed that could well be elsewhere when the club was relegated from the Premier League.
It is not just supporters who rate Magassa highly either after Gary Neville described the Frenchman as a ‘midfield destroyer’.
Signing the powerful and versatile star from Monaco for just £17m looked a real coup for West Ham.
West Ham boost as Magassa commits his future amid Frankfurt links
But Magassa suggested he may have to leave West Ham in the event of relegation due to his preference to play in the Premier League.
Many feel if West Ham could convince him to stay, he would dominate the Championship and help Nuno Espirito Santo’s side bounce straight back to the top flight.
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Now there has been a monumental West Ham boost as key star Magassa publicly commits his future to the club after links with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Sport BILD claim long-time admirers Frankfurt – West Ham’s old Europa League foes – may be about to offer the Hammers the chance to recoup the money they spent on Magassa by bringing him to Germany.
But Magassa has other ideas.
The rangy star wants to stay at the club in the Championship and has vowed his second season with West Ham will be better.
Taking to Instagram, Magassa posted a highlights reel from his debut campaign and made the emphatic declaration: “The next one will be better!!”
The magnitude of Magassa committing to West Ham cannot be underestimated.
Magassa can be a monster in West Ham’s promotion bid
The 22-year-old was already showing he could dominate Premier League midfields at times.
It left many Hammers fans baffled that he did not get more game time towards the end of the season as the team were battling to survive.
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Magassa will be an absolute monster in the Championship and the experience will better prepare him for another crack at the Premier League if he does help West Ham to promotion.
Despite his lack of consistent game time under him thus far, Nuno has made it clear what he thinks of Magassa.
Speaking last season, the head coach – who has committed his own future to the club after relegation – said Magassa will be an important player for the Hammers and that patience was needed.
“Arriving to the Premier League for any player is really difficult to adapt, to show all these things, it takes time,” Nuno said when asked if Magassa needs to be drip-fed into English football as he adjusts.
“We have a lot of situations like that (of Magassa) with players who we need to be patient with but at the same time to recognise their quality and talent is there for us to exploit.”
Magassa was restricted to second half cameos in many matches and that is not easy in any position, let alone central midfield.
But he will be unleashed in the Championship and that is bad news for West Ham’s promotion rivals.
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