West Ham United have once again been linked with Torino’s Serie A centre-back Nicolas N’Koulou – is he finally heading to the Premier League?
Sam Allardyce didn’t manage it. Neither did Slaven Bilic. But could David Moyes be the man who finally, after six years of waiting, brings Nicolas N’Koulou to West Ham United?
This might not be one of the European game’s blockbuster transfer sagas but it is certainly one of the longest running. A la Michael Bay’s Transformers, this is a chronicle nobody really wants – but that doesn’t mean it’s going away any time soon.
Back in 2014, The Mail reported that The Hammers had identified a highly-rated Marseille defender as the top choice to replace Winston Reid.
That was a West Ham team managed by Allardyce, led by Kevin Nolan and inspired at Upton Park by a fully fit Andy Carroll. It’s fair to say much has changed since then, from the coaches to the players to the stadium, but their interest in an experienced Cameroon international remains.
According to Torino Granata, 29-year-old N’Koulou is expected to be on his way out of Italy this summer and West Ham could be his destination. They, along with Wolves, Everton and Bournemouth, are willing to offer him a sizeable increase on his current £25,000-a-week contract at Torino.
Allardyce and Moyes are not the only West Ham managers to tried to get N’Koulou clad in claret and blue. Get France Football News claimed that the Londoners were in advanced negotiations during the Bilic era in 2016, when the 75-cap international was on his way out of Marseille.
N’Koulou snubbed West Ham for Lyon four years ago. But could he slip through the net yet again, for a third time?
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