West Ham are linked with Marseille midfielder Mathieu Valbuena at a price of £8 million. He is also in the World Cup with France and has featured in every single match which would’ve upgraded his price tag.
He started his career at Libourne and scored a total of 10 goals in 53 matches, then he made the massive move to Marseille, in which he has so far scored 25 goals in 227 matches.
Mathieu Valbuena is an attacking-midfielder who has combined well with the likes of Frank Ribery, Samir Nasri and Loik Cana at Marseille over the years. He is described by his former coach at Libourne as “an explosive player who is capable of quickly taking two opponents out of the game to create space, above all due to his dribbling skills.” Due to his small stature, Valbuena is nicknamed le petit vélo, which translates to “the small bike”. This is a play on Valbuena’s size and the fact that Marseille’s home ground is called the Stade Velódrome.
Many will say that this is a bargain for someone that has played in the Champions League many of times and has played for France during the major competitions over the recent years.
Will we sign him? Will we nearly miss out? Who knows… But one thing is for sure and that’s West Ham aren’t lacking ambition by being linked with the Frenchman.