Transfer reporter Alex Crook has made a shocking claim about the truth behind a reported West Ham move for N’Golo Kante.
West Ham want to bring in a new central midfielder as one of five signings before the close of the summer transfer window.
The Hammers have been linked with a number of targets including, most recently, Scott McTominay.
The dynamic between West Ham midfield trio Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse and Tomas Soucek did not gel last season.
Flynn Downes has been sold to Southampton for £18m and Kalvin Phillips’ disastrous loan was not made permanent.
The Hammers also missed out to Bayer Leverkusen for Aleix Garcia – as confirmed by the player himself recently.
So a new central midfielder is high on the priority list.
Kante bolt from the blue for Hammers
There was a real bolt from the blue this morning when The Guardian claimed West Ham have launched a £20m move for N’Golo Kante.
It is claimed West Ham hope to sign the former Chelsea star from Saudi side Al-Ittihad.
Kante, who turns 34 next season, was a starter for France at the Euros and the move has raised eyebrows around many West Ham fans.
Especially as he will be on huge wages in Saudi Arabia, where he is said to be ‘happy but open to a return to London’.
The bid also comes as a shock to many Hammers fans because technical director Tim Steidten and head coach Julen Lopetegui have made it clear they want to bring in young up-and-coming stars to lower the average age of West Ham’s squad.
But things are not as they might seem according to one talkSPORT reporter.
Alex Crook has made a shocking claim about the truth behind a West Ham move for Kante.
Crook claims the Kante story is a red herring.
Crook’s shock claim about truth behind West Ham’s Kante move
Crook points to Kante’s huge wages and has accused West Ham’s board of faux ambition.
“That’s why (his wages) I don’t think it will happen,” Crook said on talkSPORT at 9.28am.
“And, by the way, we have seen in previous transfer windows, West Ham do have a bit of a habit of going after signings that maybe they know are unattainable just to get supporters excited.”
This is not the first time the Hammers board have faced such accusations.
Crook’s talkSPORT colleague Simon Jordan famously accused West Ham majority owner David Sullivan of having a history of ‘phantom bids and faux ambition’ in the transfer market.
“I wrote an article in The Guardian 15 years ago about David Sullivan and his transfer activities and I’ll read some of it (Jordan proceeds to read an extract in which he claims Sullivan ‘misled’ the press about a phantom bid for Andy Johnson when Birmingham owner),” Jordan said in 2022.
“It was an attempt to unsettle my player and make himself and Birmingham look ambitious.”
Crook accuses West Ham of faux ambition, but is he right?
Whether Crook is right remains to be seen. But his comments will strike a chord among some West Ham fans who have often accused the owners of the same thing.
If the Kante move is legitimate then clearly it is not one for long-term.
The Hammers have two quality young central midfielders coming through the academy.
So perhaps Steidten and Lopetegui are looking specifically for a short-term fix?
What would Kante bring to West Ham in the short-term?
He scored an average match rating of over 7/10 as he played all six of France’s games at the Euros.
There will be no concerns about Kante’s fitness and ability to get around the pitch.
He made 30 appearances in the Saudi Pro League last season.
But the standard of that league is probably best encapsulated by the fact the world’s leading football data analysts WhoScored don’t carry detailed performance analysis from its games.
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