They say third time is often the charm. West Ham United might have something to say about that, however, as bid number three fell well short of Lille’s demands, the chase for Amadou Onana continuing without even a hint of a finish line in sight.
According to Sky Sports, The Hammers submitted a third offer – one worth an eye-watering £32 million – in mid-July. And while there has been no official confirmation of Lille’s stance, you get the feeling that if the 2021 Ligue 1 champions were going to accept, they would have done so already.
Now, the trail might have grown cold in the last fortnight or so but, according to FootMercato, talks between West Ham and Lille are still hot. David Moyes’ London giants, they say, remain determined to get their mitts on one of French football’s most exciting young midfielders. What’s more, a new offer will arrive on Lille’s desk ‘in the coming days’.
Albeit one that could still fall short of Lille’s colossal £50 million asking price (90Min). West Ham are making quite a meal out of a deal with Lille, if you’ll excuse the rhyme.
West Ham still hope to sign Lille’s Amadou Onana
At least, with the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest looking elsewhere, West Ham appear to have a relatively free run at the Senegal-born Belgium international.
Big-spending Forest, linked with Onana via The Athletic, have brought their pursuit of midfield reinforcements to a close after Orel Mangala’s £12.7 million arrival from Stuttgart late last week.
Arsenal have reunited Mikel Arteta with Oleksandr Zinchenko at the Emirates, and continue to flirt with Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans.
At Anfield, meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp has all-but ruled out the prospect of Liverpool strengthening their engine room before the window closes, the Reds expected to go all-out for Onana’s fellow midfielder Jude Bellingham in 2023 instead.
I don’t think something will happen in midfield,” Klopp said in July.
‘I’m not looking to buy, I can say that. The last thing that would have crossed my mind is that we have to do this (buy a new midfielder).
“Where do you want to start? So, Fabinho, (Jordan) Henderson, Thiago, (James) Milner, (Naby) Keita, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Fabio Carvalho, (Alex) Oxlade-Chamberlain.
“Now you tell me what kind of player are we missing?”
West Ham, then, may face far less competition than they might have expected for a player of Onana’s talent and potential. Not that this deal could ever be described as ‘straight-forward’.
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