West Ham are set for a summer battle with Tottenham in the race to sign Marseille midfield ace Maxime Lopez, according to a report from the Daily Star.
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The idea of signing Lopez will be very appealing for both West Ham and Tottenham, considering the reported asking price of just £10 million (Daily Star).
Stats
The 22-year-old has racked up three assists in 23 league outings for Marseille so far this season (Transfermarkt).
In those 23 appearances, he has averaged 37.7 passes per game, with an incredibly impressive completion rate of 89.5% (Who Scored).
Lopez has also averaged 0.8 key passes and 0.7 dribbles per game during that period (Who Scored).
The 22-year-old Frenchman is very versatile. He can operate in central midfield, in the number 10 role or out on either wing.
Here’s why Lopez should pick West Ham instead of Tottenham
The Hammers are desperate for central midfield reinforcements. Mark Noble is on the decline, Carlos Sanchez is almost certain to leave and Declan Rice has been linked with a move away from the London Stadium.
Spurs, on the other hand, have plenty of top class central midfield options, including the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Moussa Sissoko, Eric Dier, Harry Winks, Gedson Fernandes, Dele Alli and Oliver Skipp.
Lopez would clearly have more chance of playing regular football at West Ham than he would at Tottenham.
The Frenchman has only recently turned 22. So he has plenty of time left ahead of him. And at this stage of his career, a move to the Hammers might just be the ideal stepping stone to bigger and better things in the future.
It’s never easy moving to the Premier League from Ligue 1.
And perhaps joining West Ham instead of Tottenham would enable him to make that adjustment with less pressure surrounding him.
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