West Ham plotting raid to signal £15m “pitbull”

Will West Ham United‘s midfield rebuild proper on the finish of this switch window proceed?

Up to now within the Premier League, the Hammers have been smashed 3-0 by Sunderland on the Stadium of Gentle after which 5-1 when Chelsea visited the London Stadium.

Within the latter, the Irons midfield pairing of Tomáš Souček and James Ward-Prowse was fully overrun by Chelsea’s duo of Enzo Fernández and Moisés Caicedo, each of whom scored, barely getting close to all of them night time.

Thus, it’s no shock that Graham Potter has prioritised midfield reinforcements since that ill-fated defeat, so may one other be on his strategy to East London?

West Ham’s midfield rebuild

On Friday, West Ham signed not one however two new midfielders.

First, Mateus Fernandes arrived from Southampton for £38m earlier than, a mere few hours later, Soungoutou Magassa joined from Monaco for a reported payment of £17m.

The latter, who received Olympic silver with France in the summertime of 2024, may be very extremely rated, so West Ham followers must be enthusiastic about his arrival, however may his dream midfield companion quickly be on his strategy to Stratford?

Nicely, based on a report by TEAMTalk, West Ham are able to raid Rangers for Nicolas Raskin, including that the Glasgow-based giants worth their Belgian worldwide at round £15m.

This switch hypothesis has been fuelled by the information that Raskin is not going to be concerned in Sunday’s Glasgow derby, coaching away from the remainder of the primary staff, following an alleged falling out with supervisor Russell Martin.

Wolves, Burnley, Aston Villa, Brighton, Fiorentina and others are additionally purportedly concerned with signing the Belgian, however may he quickly swap Glasgow’s south aspect for East London?

What Nicolas Raskin would deliver to West Ham

Raskin was Rangers’ Gamers’ Participant of the 12 months and Followers’ Participant of the 12 months final season, very a lot their standout participant throughout an in any other case underwhelming marketing campaign.

In whole, the 24-year-old has made 104 appearances for the Glasgow giants, scoring six targets and registering 16 assists.

Thus, earlier than a ball was kicked this season, it might’ve been unthinkable for Rangers supporters that he wouldn’t be of their lineup for key fixtures.

Nicely, that has been the case beneath Martin, with Raskin left on the bench for Champions League qualifiers in opposition to Viktoria Plzeň and Membership Brugge, launched at half time at Jan Breydelstadion on Wednesday with the staff 5-0 down.

The desk under paperwork Raskin’s significance to Rangers final season.

Because the desk outlines, Raskin was a key contributor for Rangers final season in each facet, ranked first for assists, passes, tackles, ball recoveries and touches, emphasising his significance each out and in of possession.

He was even labelled a “pitbull” by journalist Bob Faesan – who famous that he’s a “a box-to-box midfielder” – whereas John Walker has additionally described his performances as “completely sensational”.

Thus, alongside Magassa, who likes to take a seat in entrance of a defence, they may kind a superb partnership. Certainly, the Frenchman is an actual monster out of possession in his personal proper, having ranked within the 3% of European midfielders for interceptions per 90, in addition to within the high 4% for tackles made, as per FBref.

Statistically much like the aforementioned Caicedo, amongst his European friends, Magassa additionally has the good thing about having the ability to drag his aspect up the pitch, having additionally ranked within the high 12% for profitable take-ons per 90.

Raskin has been at his finest in a Rangers jersey when given the liberty to get ahead and contribute in attacking areas, whereas additionally getting again and providing defensive solidity, guaranteeing each he and Magassa may strike an ideal stability within the centre of the park.

So, if the Belgian is on the best way out at Rangers, West Ham may snap him up for a cut price payment and doubtlessly kind an thrilling, new-look midfield duo.