Lamine Kone was awful under David Moyes at Sunderland – but the new West Ham manager appears to still rate the Ivorian highly.
David Moyes was more than a little unhappy with Lamine Kone’s conduct when the Sunderland centre-back tried to force through a move to Everton in the summer of 2016, even going as far as to hand in a transfer request, per The Guardian.
Moyes refused to back down and Kone ended up staying at the Stadium of Light – albeit against the Ivorian’s wishes.
And the former Lorient defender, who had shone under Sam Allardyce and played a major role in Sunderland’s great escape, repaid Moyes with some truly horrific performances in a disastrous 2016/17 season that saw The Black Cats relegation amid humiliation.
Nethertheless, it appears that Moyes is willing to overlook Kone’s seemingly disinterested, error-prone performances from last season. The Sun reports that the Scot may be tempted to reunite with the 28-year-old at his new club, West Ham United.
Anyone who has watched The Hammers play this season will tell you that signing a few new centre-backs in the January window would not be the worst idea.
West Ham conceded nine goals in the three Premier League games before Slaven Bilic was put out of his misery, including four of the softest strikes you will see all season in Saturday’s 4-1 home thumping by Liverpool.
The Kone of 2016/17, however, appears unlikely to offer any sort of improvement to an already shaky backline. If Moyes can get Kone performing to his best, however, the defender could provide the strength, pace and aerial threat that West Ham appear to be lacking.
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