With just two months of the campaign left, transfer season is about to gather pace.
This summer will be an important one for West Ham. The Irons spent heavily last summer, breaking their transfer record to sign Sebastien Haller, for example, but it has not pushed them up the table as they would have liked – they are currently in 16th place.
This campaign has already had one managerial casualty – Manuel Pellegrini was sacked last December – and, with just two wins in 10 Premier League appearances since returning to the London Stadium, David Moyes may not last too much longer either.
According to Torino Granata, the Hammers are interested in signing Nicolas N’Koulou from the Serie A outfit. With Angelo Ogbonna turning 32 in May, and Winston Reid’s future remaining uncertain – he is currently out on loan – a new centre-back would not go amiss. With a Transfermarkt value of £12.6m, he would not break the bank either.
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However, there is one problem with this pursuit – it directly contradicts what ExWHUemployee believes West Ham’s transfer policy will be in the future. Talking to the West Ham Way podcast on Wednesday, he said: “We are definitely adopting a policy of signing younger players, that’s 100 per cent going to happen.”
N’Koulou may be a very good and experienced centre-back – after all, he has 72 caps for Cameroon and has played in both Serie A and Ligue 1. However, he is already 29 years old, and will be turning 30 in May himself. That, quite obviously, is not what a younger player looks like.
There is youthful positivity at the London Stadium at the moment. Declan Rice and Issa Diop are regulars for Moyes and are 21 and 23 respectively, whilst Jeremy Ngakia already has four Premier League appearances to his name even though he is just 19 years old.
Bringing in the former Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais man would totally contradict the claim that the Hammers will now concentrate on youth. In the long term, that is exactly what they need – N’Koulou doesn’t fit into that.
Meanwhile, West Ham cannot afford to let this ace leave.
