**West Ham Under-21 coach Mark Robson has praised Mohamadou Kante following his performance against Woking earlier this week.**
The 19-year-old got on the scoresheet during the 2-0 win in the National League Cup, and Robson said Kante has many similar traits to a former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder:
“Mo is a big boy. A couple of times when he pressed, he’s got these long legs and he just nicked the ball off people, really clever. He’s like a Patrick Vieira kind of central midfield player.”
“He’s had some experience with the Paris FC first team in Ligue 2, so he’s already played against men, and he looked very good tonight when he came on. He’s been excellent since he’s come in. He’s a really good lad, very hungry for it, and we’re really pleased to have him.”
What do fans need to know about Kante?
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The teenager came through the ranks at Paris FC before the Hammers secured his signature in August last year.
Kante was loaned straight back to gain first-team experience and, as Robson mentioned, he made six appearances in total for the senior side last campaign.
Having now returned to his parent club, it remains to be seen whether the [**midfielder**](https://hammersheadlines.com/west-ham-transfer-news-aleix-garcia/) can live up to his early promise and establish himself in Graham Potter’s first-team squad.
West Ham are on the lookout for midfielders
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While Kante is unlikely to be ready for starts in the Premier League, he could be given his competitive debut in the domestic cups over the coming months, especially if Potter is light on midfield options.
It is believed that Edson Alvarez, Guido Rodriguez and Andy Irving could all leave the London Stadium over the coming weeks, and if the club can’t replace all of them, Under 21 players such as Kante may have to make up the numbers.
In other news, [**Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that West Ham will hold “talks” with several clubs about selling a first-team player**](https://hammersheadlines.com/west-ham-transfer-news-edson-alvarez/)