West Ham are in the running to land the Sunderland centre-back, according to reports.
According to a recent report in the Daily Mirror, West Ham United are one of a number of clubs that want to sign Sunderland defender Lamine Kone during the January transfer window.
The Mirror suggests that the 27-year-old will command a fee of at least £10m despite the Black Cats’ perilous position in the Premier League table.
Sunderland’s Lamine Kone in action with West Bromwich Albion’s Salomon Rondon
However, it is not the first time that the Hammers have wanted to sign the Ivory Coast international.
A report in the Daily Mail from June 2014 claimed that then West Ham boss Sam Allardyce wanted to bring Kone, then of Lorient, to Upton Park. Interestingly, the Mail suggests that the Irons would have had to pay just £5m to make a deal happen.
But for whatever reason, the move never materialised, leaving Allarydce to bring him to England in January of this year, when he was in charge at the Stadium of Light.
Former West Ham manager Sam Allardyce
Though Kone enjoyed an excellent first few months with Sunderland, it is fair to say that his form has been largely disappointing this season.
And yet, reports are now suggesting that West Ham could be weighing up whether to pay at least twice as much for the defender as the price that seemingly put them off a move two years ago.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
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