West Ham are in advanced talks over a deal to sign the Monaco midfielder Soungoutou Magassa for €17m (£14.7m) plus €3m in add-ons.
Graham Potter, who is under growing pressure after opening the campaign with heavy defeats by Sunderland and Chelsea, is desperate for midfield reinforcements and has been pushing for the 21-year-old to join. West Ham have had an agreement on a fee with Monaco since the weekend but have been working on personal terms. They have also made an offer to sign the Nottingham Forest midfielder Ibrahim Sangaré on loan.
Potter and his recruitment chief, Kyle Macaulay, have spoken to Magassa about where he would fit in. Talks ramped up late on Monday night and continued on Tuesday morning. Forest have also shown interest in the France Under-21 international and are keen on the Fluminense midfielder Matheus Martinelli.
West Ham’s scouts have done extensive work on Magassa, who made 31 appearances for Monaco last season, and regard him as an ideal fit. Their ponderous midfield is woefully short of speed and energy. Potter is also looking to add creativity and does not intend to stop with Magassa. West Ham are looking for a No 8 but have encountered frustration in their pursuit of Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes. Southampton have an excellent chance of keeping Fernandes after raising funds through the sale of Tyler Dibling to Everton.
West Ham may be forced to move to other targets, including Feyernoord’s Quinten Timber. They are monitoring Ajax’s Kenneth Taylor, Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney, Rennes’ Djaoui Cissé, Torino’s Ivan Ilic and Werder Bremen’s Romano Schmid.
Potter does not have a huge budget and the move for Magassa depended on Edson Álvarez or Guido Rodríguez leaving. West Ham could not find a buyer for Álvarez but got the Mexico midfielder’s wages off the books after loaning him to Fenerbahce. Rodríguez has interest from Spain and is surplus to requirements. West Ham have turned down a bid from Everton for Tomas Soucek but the Czech Republic midfielder could still be allowed to leave.
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Potter faces a battle to lift the mood in the dressing room. Lucas Paquetá has interest from several clubs but West Ham are unlikely to sell the Brazil midfielder on the cheap.
