So far in the transfer window, there has been a deafening silence in terms of incomings for West Ham.
At this stage in last summer’s window, the Irons had already acquired Nayef Aguerd, Alphonse Areola, Flynn Downes, and Gianluca Scamacca. A further four players followed as David Moyes splashed over £179m, with only Manchester United and Chelsea spending more money.
Although the club won the Europa Conference League, they endured an extremely underwhelming domestic season. To ensure a more comfortable campaign and settled signings, Tim Steidten was appointed as the technical director to facilitate a more aligned transfer strategy.
Who could replace Declan Rice at West Ham?
The German’s most pressing concern is to pinpoint the right candidate the replicate Declan Rice’s monumental influence and Youssouf Fofana is one of the names in the shortlist.
According to 90min, the Hammers have identified the Monaco midfielder, Fofana, alongside Conor Gallagher, Denis Zakaria, Joao Palhinha, and Edson Alvarez as a possible signing.
Fofana’s current contract expires in 2024, but the club has an option of extending it by a year.
How good is Youssouf Fofana?
The Frenchman has been at Monaco since 2020 and has accumulated 140 appearances for the club.
Recently, he has become an indispensable component of this Monaco outfit, featuring in 104 of its last 114 Ligue 1 outings.
Fofana has amassed a formidable reputation for his commendable tenacity merged with technical mastery.
Indeed, according to Opta Analyst, the 24-year-old ranks in the best 10% for possession won among midfielders who have played at least 1350 minutes in Europe’s top five leagues.
He has combined this trait with impressive vision, as he sits within the best 14% for progressive passes and progressive carries per 90. Of these passes and carries, 5.36 and 2.75 respectively were made into the final third to indicate that Fofana has incisive forward-thinking and can be a key cog in offensive sequences.
A player of this rounded nature could be a far more attractive option than Tomas Soucek, who endured a troubling decline last season.
The Czech’s most appealing attribute was his threat from set pieces, however, he just endured his lowest-scoring season since joining the Hammers as this tactic looks to have been combated by the opposition.
Furthermore, whilst playing next to Rice he was never expected to constantly orchestrate play and spray the ball around, his passing statistics have reached dismal levels in comparison to Fofana.
The Monaco livewire outranks Soucek for shot-creating actions per 90 (2.4 vs 1.66), pass completion per 90 (81.4% vs 71.3%), progressive passes per 90 (7.24 vs 2.81), and progressive carries per 90 (2.54 vs 0.35).
The 6 foot 4 man's numbers for these categories places him within the lowest 21% in Europe’s big leagues among his positional peers.
Therefore, the £5k-per-week titan has shown he can perform both sides of the game and can take advantage of Soucek’s wavering influence by unleashing his multi-talented profile.
Described as “magnificent” by Jacek Kulig, the signing of 6 foot 1 Fofana could kill two birds with one stone by upgrading on Soucek and softening the blow of losing Rice.