West Ham face a Spurs flop and two players David Moyes tried to sign vs Lyon in Europa League quarter-finals next month.
West Ham overturned a 1-0 first leg deficit to beat six-time champions Sevilla 2-0 in a memorable night at the London Stadium on Thursday.
And the reward for Moyes’s side was a place in the hat for the quarter-finals.
West Ham were yesterday drawn to face Ligue 1 side Lyon next and know that – should they progress – they will face either Eintracht Frankfurt or Barcelona in the semi-finals.
Lyon are a historic club and another mouthwatering tie is in prospect.
Any West Ham fans who followed the group stages closely will know Lyon were the team who secured the most points with 16 from their six group stage matches -five wins and a draw.
Ex Hammer Joe Cole believes West Ham should be confident after drawing Lyon, saying the midtable Ligue 1 side are not the side they once were.
Newcastle unwittingly did West Ham a huge favour in January when they weakened Lyon by signing brilliant midfielder Bruno Guimaraes in a £40m deal.
Lyon have not been quite the same side since losing Guimaraes and replacing him with Spurs flop Tanguy Ndombele.
And that’s not the only face that will be familiar to Moyes when the Hammers play Lyon over two legs on April 7 and 14th.
Because not only does the Lyon team feature £60m Tottenham Hotspur reject Ndombele – who famously slow-walked off the pitch when substituted when Spurs were losing 1-0 to Morecambe in the FA Cup – but also two forwards Moyes has allegedly tried to bring to West Ham.
Moyes has tried on more than once occasion to sign former Celtic and Fulham striker Moussa Dembele.
According to the likes of The Sun, Dembele has twice snubbed West Ham’s advances including in January last year.
Moyes will also face Lyon attacker Karl Toko Ekambi, who he tried to sign when he first returned to West Ham back in January 2020.
West Ham were heavily linked with a move for the then Villareal forward and former teammate of Pablo Fornals (El Periodico Mediterraneo).
But Ekambi chose to sign for Lyon instead (L’Equipe).
Given how much due diligence Moyes puts into his recruitment, the Scot will clearly know all about both players.
And having faced Ndombele from his time at rivals Tottenham, there will be no surprises for West Ham there either.
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