West Ham in talks for £22.5m star who’s “made for the big stage”

Fair to say, West Ham United supporters are not coming into the new season with sky-high optimism.

Last time round, the Hammers finished 14th, only just above the disastrous duo that was Manchester United and Tottenham, while their tally of nine home league defeats was the most they’ve endured since being relegated in 2010/11.

Graham Potter replaced Julen Lopetegui in January, but this did not lead to an upturn in results, winning just five of his 19 matches in charge.

Thus, Potter will be under pressure to make a fast start to this season, but will need some new recruits if he’s to achieve this, potentially with his eye on an attacker reminiscent of a West Ham fans’ favourite of yesteryear.

West Ham’s search for a new attacker

So far this summer, in a very unpopular move amongst the Hammers’ support, star winger Mohammed Kudus has departed to join fierce rivals Tottenham for a reported fee of £55m, becoming the first player to make such a move since Scott Parker in 2011.

Meantime, left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf has arrived from Slavia Prague for around £19m, but this has done little to get supporters back on side.

Well, that could change because, according to a report by Jack Johnson for talkSPORT, West Ham have made contact with Leicester City over the possibility of signing Bilal El Khannouss.

They add that Sunderland, Nottingham Forest, Everton and Monaco also ‘hold a concrete interest’, while adding that the Moroccan international’s contract contains a £22.5m release clause, activated following the Foxes’ relegation to the EFL Championship.

Loïc Tanzi of L’Équipe claims that El Khannouss has no intention of playing in England’s second-tier, prioritising a return to the Premier League, so could he soon swap the East Midlands for the East End of London?

How Bilal El Khannouss would improve West Ham

After arriving from Genk for £21m last summer, El Khannouss managed to impress during his debut campaign in the Premier League, despite plying his trade in a generally hopeless Leicester side, who infamously failed to score in nine successive home league matches, an unwanted new top division record.

The table below outlines the Moroccan’s importance to the Foxes last season.

As the table outlines, El Khannouss was very much Leicester’s creator in chief last season, ranked first for a variety of passing, chances created and dribbling statistics.

Ben Mattinson of Breaking the Lines notes that he ‘boasts the vision to spot impossible passes’, adding that he ‘oozes composure’ and is capable of a match-winning moment at any time, asserting that it’s only a matter of time before he is plying his trade for one of ‘Europe’s biggest outfits’. Writing on X, Mattinson has described him as “a player made for the big stage”.

Well, that last part sounds just like arguably West Ham’s greatest player of the modern era, does it not?

When Dimitri Payet joined the Hammers from Olympique de Marseille for just £11m in the summer of 2015, no one could’ve forecast what would happen next.

In 60 appearances in claret and blue, the France international scored 15 goals and registered 22 assists, with Josh Fordham of talkSPORT asserting that he is ‘easily the most talented player’ of the club’s modern history.

Meantime, Roshane Thomas of The Athletic outlines how the “world-class” Payet “entertained supporters” with countless jaw-dropping moments, before forcing through an acrimonious return to Marseille just 18 months after arriving.

So, could El Khannouss be the next Payet? Let’s compare the pair to find out.

Of course, Payet’s statistics are more impressive, but this should not come as much of a surprise, given that, as noted by Harry Sherlock of Goal, he was one of the best players in the Premier League in the 2015/16 season, so much so that he was on the Ballon d’Or nominees list.

El Khannouss is certainly yet to hit those heights, but his numbers are comparable, especially when it comes to chances created and dribbling, so he too has the potential to light up the London Stadium.

Related

He’d be amazing with Bowen: West Ham in contact for “sensational” £34m star

West Ham are looking to add goals to their side this summer