West Ham have been linked with a transfer bid for a highly promising youngster from Ligue 1
West Ham’s summer transfer window has been a slog so far. The club are known to be in the market for two new midfielders, among other players, but efforts to sign players such as Mateus Fernandes have so far fallen flat. That doesn’t mean that the club are giving up.
A slew of recent stories have connected the Hammers with several midfielders, but a fresh report from The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg threw a new name into the ring on Friday – that of AS Monaco’s Soungoutou Magassa. But who is the 21-year-old, what would he offer Graham Potter’s side, and how likely is it that a deal gets done before deadline day?
Why West Ham want to sign Soungoutou Magassa
With Edson Álvarez set to leave for Fenerbahçe on loan, West Ham are thin on numbers in the key central midfield area, with James Ward-Prowse, Tomáš Souček and Guido Rodríguez the only senior players available to play in front of the defence.
That’s a list of players who are mostly either struggling to make a mark at the London Stadium or who are beginning to look a little long in the tooth, and Magassa would certainly freshen things up were he to make the move.
Since breaking into Monaco’s first team during the 2023/24 season, Magassa has demonstrated a combination of determination, stamina and defensive nous that has made him highly effective at breaking down opposing attacks and winning the ball back – and he’s dynamic enough to get right across the centre of the midfield in and out of possession to plug holes and progress play.
With an average of 5.3 combined successful tackles and interceptions per match in Ligue 1 and 4.3 ball recoveries on top of that, he racks up defensive contributions in the kind of volume that can make a significant difference, and he’s likely quicker getting across to cover than any of West Ham’s current options in midfield can claim to be, while his capacity to time tackles is evident from the tape.
On the ball, he’s comfortable under pressure and has a very impressive success rate in one-on-one situations, but rarely tries to carry the ball downfield himself – rather, he looks for quick passes into the final third when he can, although he does lack the precision of a natural playmaker. For Monaco last season, he was only involved in moves that led to shooting chances 1.32 per match, but was responsible for nearly five successful ‘progressive’ passes per game, suggesting an efficiency issue that he may need to work on to succeed at the very top level.
The aptitude, work ethic and technical qualities he has demonstrated so far, however, have been enough to make him an increasingly important player for Monaco – he made 21 league appearances with 12 starts last season, but missed 10 matches with a facial injury – and have earned him eight caps for France’s Under-21 team. He was also a member of their silver medal-winning Olympic squad.
He would also add some versatility to the ranks – although primarily a defensive midfielder, Magassa has played at centre-half on a number of occasions and has the height and strength to be effective in deeper areas and against high balls.
While not necessarily a player who would be expected to play 90 minutes in every match from the very start, his performances at Monaco suggest a player who would provide Potter with a crucial rotational option, some sharper, fresher legs in midfield, and who has the potential to develop further into a dynamic and destructive ball-winning midfielder who covered the whole of the midfield both in and out of possession.
Will West Ham sign Magassa – or will they look elsewhere?
The Guardian’s report claims that West Ham have already lodged a formal offer for Magassa, but not whether Monaco are likely to accept or not. Magassa is under contract until 2029, and Monaco have no incentive to sell him on the cheap. In the wake of that report, Fabrizio Romano claimed on X that the offer was worth €17m up front plus an additional €3m in add-ons - for a total package worth approximately £17.3m.
West Ham have already had bids for Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes rejected and are linked with a whole host of alternative midfielders, including (but by no means limited to) Feyenoord’s Quentin Timber, Stade Rennais’ Djaoui Cissé and Ajax’s Kenneth Taylor.
West Ham’s plan is clear – to make their midfielder younger, sharper, faster and more energetic, but they are canvassing several possible options to make that happen and don’t intend to overpay. Finances may well dictate the deals they do make more so than in-club perceptions of the quality of the players they are monitoring.
So if Monaco play hardball over Magassa’s price, it remains eminently possible that they land on other options instead – with no indications as to how much Monaco want as yet, it remains challenging to assess the likelihood that a deal is agreed.
There may also be competition. Nottingham Forest have been linked with Magassa in the past and while the arrival of Douglas Luiz on loan may mean that they are no longer in the race, other European sides are believed to be monitoring the youngster, who is also eligible to represent Mali at senior international level through his family.
Magassa fits the ball-winning, athletic profile of player that West Ham are looking for, and now seems to be at the very top of their list – but there is a lot of ground to cover between now and the transfer deadline, and a transfer for a talented player is not yet assured.
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