West Ham United are missing out on a midfielder with Yaya Toure-like qualities as the Premier League-linked Djibril Sow closes in on a move to Serie A giants Lazio.
The expectation was that, once Declan Rice’s protracted switch to Arsenal was finally completed over a week ago, West Ham would finally be freed from the shackles on a long-running saga, with David Moyes’ pursuit of midfield replacements speeding up as a result.
Much to the frustration of a concerned fanbase, then, progress has not exactly been forthcoming.
West Ham saw a £25 million bid rejected by Southampton for captain James Ward-Prowse this week. It was a similar story with Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher. The trail has grown cold regarding both Denis Zakaria and Edson Alvarez also, while Manchester United’s £40 million asking price for Scott McTominay feels a little on the expensive side.
You can scrub Djibril Sow’s name off the list of potential Rice replacements too. The eternally-underrated Switzerland international, per The Sun, was another on West Ham’s radar but will instead join Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio for a bargain £13 million.
And Valon Behrami, the Swiss legend who represented both West Ham and Lazio, sees shades of Yaya Toure in a player who, at Eintracht Frankfurt, blossomed into one of the most complete footballers in the Bundesliga.
Djibril Sow will not replace Declan Rice at West Ham
“Sow has certainly made great improvements in recent years. He has acquired great personality at Eintracht,” Behrami tells La Lazio Siamo Noi.
“He manages to have great intensity in the defensive phase; a physically strong player, intelligent and, with the ball, he has excellent characteristics.
“Sow needs freedom. I see him more as a box-to-box player. In terms of freedom of movement (needed), I would say (Sow resembles) Yaya Toure.”
Ward-Prowse and McTominay appear to be emerging as Moyes’ first-choice targets for the post-Rice era; both players offering a proven track-record in the Premier League.
Southampton’s sporting director Jason Wilcox, meanwhile, accepts that Ward-Prowse could still be sold, but only for a fee well in excess of £25 million.
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