Did David Moyes make a big error by ignoring £25m ace?

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West Ham boss David Moyes was heavily linked with a move for Marseille ace Morgan Sanson throughout the summer transfer window.

Read also: ‘Unbelievable’: Joe Cole left flabbergasted by ‘outstanding’ West Ham ace

The Daily Mail claimed in July that Moyes wanted to bring the 26-year-old Frenchman to the London Stadium.

And the Daily Mail also suggested that Sanson was available for just £25 million.

In the end, Moyes brought Craig Dawson, Vladimir Coufal and Said Benrahma to West Ham instead.

We are very weak in the central midfield department, however. Certainly from a strength in depth perspective. And perhaps we should have made a stronger move to sign Morgan Sanson.

Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek are incredibly strong players. And against the bigger teams where we give up possession, the Englishman and the Czech Republic ace provide solid cover for the back-line.

The problem West Ham do have, however, is that we lack any kind of creativity when in possession through the middle of the park. As good as he undoubtedly is, Soucek is fairly limited on the ball.

And signing Sanson would have solved that issue. Against the weaker teams, we could have moved Rice back into the back three and played the Frenchman alongside Soucek in central midfield.

Stats

Sanson racked up five goals and five assists in 27 Ligue 1 outings for Marseille last season (Transfermarkt).

In those appearances, the Frenchman averaged 30.1 passes per game, with a very impressive completion rate of 85.9%. He also averaged 1.1 key passes per game (Who Scored).

In 27 league appearances, the 26-year-old averaged 2.2 tackles and 0.9 interceptions per game (Who Scored).

He has racked up one goal and two assists in seven Ligue 1 outings for Marseille so far this season (Who Scored).

Sanson is clearly a very good player. He has that certain kind of creativity and guile that West Ham sometimes lack in the middle of the park.

We do have a potential internal solution, however. Pablo Fornals is at his best when playing centrally. And perhaps Moyes should consider playing the Spaniard alongside Soucek whilst slotting Rice back into defence when the Hammers are playing games that we are expected to win.

It seems as though the Scot prefers Fornals out on the left, however, what with his work-rate and ability to offer cover defensively.

So it is a real shame that we didn’t push harder for Sanson. There’s always next summer eh?