When you are being included alongside Desire Doue, Joao Neves, Milos Kerkez, Dean Huijsen and Yamine Lamal – like a striker reportedly on the radar of West Ham United – well, that is quite the compliment.
The latest to be linked with a move to West Ham United over the summer, is Lucas Stassin the hottest striker under the age of 21 anywhere in European football?
Rising Stars, a social media page which specialises in shining a light on football’s next generation of superstars, certainly think so. The West Ham fans like what they see, too, from a 20-year-old centre-forward who shot to fame with 12 goals in 23 Ligue 1 starts during a fabulous breakout campaign at St Etienne.
A club source exclusively told Hammers News last week that talks are yet to take place between West Ham and the fallen giants of the French game.
But with Stassin’s brilliance not quite enough to save St Etienne from relegation, one thing is for certain.
With Wolves, RB Leipzig, Rennes, Marseille and Lille allegedly hot on his heels too, not to mention a Sporting CP side expected to lose their 54-goal talisman Viktor Gyokeres to Manchester United, wherever Stassin kicks off the 2025/26 campaign, it will not be at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Lucas Stassin ‘wants to leave’ St Etienne amid West Ham United links
Speaking to Tribune Verte, French football reporter Mohamed Toubache-Ter explains that Lucas Stassin has little interest in helping St Etienne return to Ligue 1 at the first time of asking.
While the former KVC Westerlo youngster is yet to force his way into the senior Belgium squad, he clearly believes that a spot in Rudi Garcia’s roster may be up for grabs with the North American World Cup now only 12 months away.
“The ASSE [St Etienne] transfer window will be very hectic. That is undeniable,” Toubache-Ter explains. “Stassin wants to leave.
“Stassin wants to leave the club first, I say that with certainty. We can understand that because he’s in demand and he has the World Cup with Belgium in his sights. There will be offers.”
The reporter adds that St Etienne, while identifying former Huddersfield Town targetman Steve Mounie as a potential replacement, are looking to bring in around £14 million.
St Etienne drastically reduced Lucas Stassin’s asking price after finishing 17th in an 18-team division last season.
Stassin could combine well with Jarrod Bowen at West Ham
Interestingly, Graham Potter had taken to using Niclas Fullkrug in a more withdrawn, facilitator-sort of role during the final few weeks of the Premier League campaign. That is a role Stassin could take to like the proverbial duck to a picturesque park pond.
St Etienne coach Eirik Horneland describes Stassin as ‘a mix between a number nine and a number ten’.
The youngster provided four assists alongside his 12 Ligue 1 goals, dropping off the frontline while allowing Les Verts’ wideman to make runs in behind.
It is not difficult to imagine Stassin – the Belgian likens himself to Romelu Lukaku and Lois Openda, combining the poacher’s instinct of the former with the elusive movement of the latter – striking up an excellent understanding with Jarrod Bowen at the London Stadium.
“He’s a hybrid. He combines qualities,” Eirik Horneland said.
“He’s not a centre-forward who can physically put pressure on two central defenders, but he’s a player who works hard and develops good chemistry with [his teammates].”
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