From sixteenth to perennial contender for the European places in the last two seasons; the changes instituted at West Ham United under former Everton and Manchester United manager David Moyes have been impressive indeed as the Hammers have pole-vaulted into the upper echelon of the Premier League in a short space of time.
But in order for the Hammers to continue in their push to upset the apple cart at the top of the English football pyramid, more is needed in the door at the London Stadium under the club’s Scottish headmaster, with West Ham persisting in their interest in 20-year-old Belgian midfielder Amadou Onana.
According to Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth, West Ham remain in discussions over a summer move for the full Belgian international who recently received his first national team cap under Roberto Martinez against rivals the Netherlands back in June.
The 6′4 defensive midfielder would be a fantastic physical presence added to a West Ham midfield contingent that already includes England star Declan Rice and Czech stalwart Tomáš Souček, but his status at Lille makes him a difficult summer catch for the capital outfit.
Lille has already seen key center-back and Dutch international Sven Botman depart for Newcastle this summer with the club making a tidy profit on the Ajax academy graduate, earning nearly €30m more than what they paid for his services in the summer of 2020.
As such, Lille has made a rather comfortable profit in the transfer window that totals ~€266m across the last five seasons including the current transfer window, putting the club in no position to feel forced in parting ways with Onana who has spent just one year at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy while making 42 appearances across all competitions last season.
Though the club did exceptionally well in securing deals for Gianluca Scamacca, Nayef Aguerd, Flynn Downes, and Alphonse Areola which amounted to a credible £75m in player purchases, the Hammers remain light in the center of the park when it comes to true central midfielders, with just the aforementioned Downes and Connor Coventry the other two midfielders on offer past Rice and Souček.
West Ham’s persistence in securing Onana, who already has considerable experience at club level as well as in European cup competitions, is certainly targeting the thin nature of Moyes’ senior squad through the middle of the park.
Should a deal for Onana be struck, it would afford Moyes the ability to avoid deploying any of his trio of attacking midfielders - Pablo Fornals, Manuel Lanzini, and Nikola Vlasic - in the engine room, while affording more balance across the squad and necessary depth to genuinely compete across the toughest fixture program in club football.
