David Ornstein claims ‘conversations’ over Newcastle and West Ham target before World Cup

Follow us on Google Discover

Azzedine Ounahi is wanted by Newcastle United and West Ham United but Premier League clubs have been chasing him for a while now.

90Min report that Newcastle and West Ham are among a host of clubs who want to sign Ounahi after his stunning World Cup campaign.

Wolves, Leicester City, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain are also interested with Ounahi now a wanted man.

The Angers midfielder was simply sensational for Morocco at the World Cup, with his energy and dribbling ability catching the eye.

Angers would no doubt love to keep hold of Ounahi but that now sounds like a tough ask given the lofty interest in his signature.

Many of Morocco’s World Cup stars are bound to attract interest after their run to the semi-finals of the competition – but it seems that Ounahi was wanted even before his displays in Qatar.

Newcastle and West Ham target Ounahi is a wanted man

The Athletic’s David Ornstein has been speaking about transfers with Hayters ahead of the January transfer window.

A number of players who excelled at the World Cup are bound to attract interest and Ounahi is an emerging name.

Yet Ornstein claims English clubs were actually chasing Ounahi before the World Cup even started and Angers were aware of interest.

“Ounahi just signed a contract extension that gives him an extra year until 2026, however there were already conversations with clubs I think in the Premier League, the Bundesliga and La Liga before this tournament about a potential move for him, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he was to go,” he added.

Ounahi was a relative unknown before the World Cup, so whoever was chasing him before the World Cup certainly has an eye for talent.

The 22-year-old was on the books as Strasbourg before being allowed to join Avranches in 2020.

Angers snapped him up in 2021 and whilst the potential has been on show at times in France, nobody could have expected him to explode like this at the World Cup.

Maybe Newcastle and West Ham were some of the clubs to register their interest early, but if they weren’t the battle for Ounahi appears to be even stronger than first thought.