West Ham United were linked with a summer move for Lamine Kone.
Sunderland’s season lurched to another low point on Tuesday night, as they were hammered 5-2 away at Ipswich Town to increase the pressure on manager Simon Grayson.
The Black Cats have now picked up just one point in the last seven Championship games, with some of the defending on show no doubt a major concern for Grayson.
With 19 goals conceded in just 10 games, only one Championship team have conceded more goals than Sunderland this season, and another five leaked tonight shows the problems Grayson is facing at the Stadium of Light.
One of the chief offenders for Sunderland right now is defender Lamine Kone, with the Ivorian turning in a host of poor performances since the end of the summer transfer window.
Kone, 28, may have impressed in his first six months with Sunderland following a January 2016 move from Lorient, but he struggled last term, and has looked even worse this season.
Whether it’s a lack of confidence or a reaction to not getting a summer move, Kone is a liability in the heart of the Sunderland defence right now, with fans calling for him to be dropped – and West Ham should be paying close attention to that.
The Mirror reported back in June that West Ham were the favourites to sign Kone, and whilst a deal didn’t go through, they should completely avoid the notion of making a new move in January.
No Premier League team has conceded more goals than West Ham this term with 13 conceded in just six games, and whilst Slaven Bilic may look for defensive reinforcements in January, this season’s performances show that he is not the answer for West Ham.
If any centre back should arrive, it should be a promising young defender with his best years ahead of him, rather than a player approaching 29 who may have already peaked in Kone, and that may well leave Sunderland with a dilemma over their once-talismanic but now-struggling centre back.
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