Tony Cottee and Alan Pardew are both very much on the same page when it comes to who West Ham United should be targeting following a dismal start to the new Premier League campaign.
And it is not a central defender.
Graham Potter will have been ‘fuming’, former Chelsea and Everton forward Pat Nevin predicted, when watching Eliezer Mayenda and Dan Ballard both rise unchallenged to head Sunderland into a 2-0 lead within the space of 12 second-half minutes.
West Ham United, after all, had no fewer than three central defenders on the pitch; Jean-Clair Todibo, Nayef Aguerd and Max Kilman.
Nevin, it seems, wasn’t far wrong.
Potter vented his frustration at West Ham’s backline shortly after Wilson Isidor’s late clincher added insult to injury. Yet, both Alan Pardew and Tony Cottee are in agreement that the club’s biggest issues lie elsewhere.
Cottee felt that a midfield of James Ward-Prowse and Guido Rodriguez is ‘the biggest problem’ facing Potter at West Ham United. Pardew stopped short of singling out individual performers but, like the Upton Park icon, he settled on Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott as the sort of transformative addition required.
Harvey Elliott celebrates winning player of the tournament after leading England to Euro Under 21s glory
Photo by Tullio Puglia – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Alan Pardew and Tony Cottee want Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott at West Ham United
A few days after Southampton rejected West Ham’s £30 million bid for Mateus Fernandes, two men associated with happier times in East London urged their old employers to circle back round to the England Under-21 international stuck on the Liverpool bench.
“[Harvey Elliott is] perfect. Absolutely perfect for West Ham,” said Pardew, who led the capital club to an FA Cup final and a top-half Premier League finish. “Absolutely. That is the type of target West Ham should [be trying to sign].
“I would love him to be at West Ham. West Ham have got to do some business.”
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“Harvey Elliott has been linked. Go and get someone like that!,” agrees Cottee, second on the Hammers’ all-time goalscoring charts.
West Ham prioritise Southampton ace Mateus Fernandes after £30 million bid
Now, Harvey Elliott does have admirers at West Ham.
But, as the Daily Mail pointed out back in July, any prospective deal for the Fulham academy graduate hangs on whether the Hammers can raise enough funds before the window closes.
A club source admitted at the time that Tyler Morton and Elliott were under consideration, but deals for both were ‘sadly a long way off’. Jump back to the present, and Morton has joined Lyon in a £15 million transfer while RB Leipzig appear to have moved into pole position for Elliott’s signature.
The message coming out of the London Stadium, meanwhile, is that a classic number eight is now the priority ahead of a more number ten-like performer in the Elliott mould.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Aleix Garcia is an alternative to top target Fernandes, Hammers News have been told, while Jacob Ramsey was also high on the list before the former Aston Villa kid sealed an initial £39 million move to Newcastle over the weekend.
Watch out for Ngal’ayel Mukau of Lille too.
The West Ham fans were given a sneak peek of Mukau during the 1-1 friendly draw with Lille at the London Stadium earlier this month.