Ligue 1 St Etienne are going to lose Jonathan Bamba with West Ham leading Premier League rivals Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Huddersfield Town.
Jonathan Bamba continues to enhance his reputation at St Etienne.
The France U21 winger has enjoyed a fine breakthrough season with Les Verts and has been the brightest spark in a really disappointing campaign at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard.
Unfortunately for St Etienne, however, Bamba is out of contract at the end of this season and unwilling to sign a new one. The green-clad southern giants will not even be able to demand a decent transfer fee for their prized asset.
But the reason why Bamba would look an excellent bargain signing for West Ham could, ironically, be the same reason why he could arrive at the London Stadium under scrutiny.
Now, a player of Bamba’s potential could prove to be one of the Premier League’s most inspired bargain signings on a free transfer, but the divisions between the Hammers’ fan-base and the club’s owners appears to be wider than ever right now and one way that Davids Gold and Sullivan could get the fans back onside would be to invest.
Supporters were frustrated by what they deemed to be cheap, money-saving deals for the likes of Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta and the 37-year-old free agent Patrice Evra.
And while Bamba is an attacker of great promise at the other end of his career, his addition on a free could once again raise questions about a lack of investment and ambition.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
