West Ham United have reportedly joined French side Lyon & others in the race for Atletico Madrid’s Geoffrey Kondogbia in an attempt to fill the Declan Rice shaped hole in their midfield.
We reported back in May that West Ham were preparing for a Declan Rice exit, with David Moyes saying at the time “We’d love for him to be a West Ham player but we are aware that might not be the case at the end of the season.”
Although the English midfielder hasn’t yet put pen to paper, it is reported that several large clubs, including Arsenal and Manchester United, are pursuing him, and his exit from London Stadium looks inevitable.
The Hammers have been linked to a number of options for replacing Rice, including fellow England teammate Kalvin Phillips, with Geoffrey Kondogbia now reported to be the newest name on the list.
According to Spanish sports website Relevo, both West Ham and French Ligue 1 side Lyon have joined the race to pry Kondogbia away from Atletico Madrid.
Kondogbia joined Atletico in 2020, after spending 3 years with Valencia, and has made 73 appearances for them thus far.
Although once very highly rated when he played for Monaco in Ligue 1, the midfielder has suffered a difficult time of things during his spells with Inter Milan, Valencia and Atletico, and it is reported that he could be snatched up for a figure around just £4 million this summer.
Whether or not West Ham will be the ones to secure Kondogbia’s signature remains to be seen, with his previous experience in Ligue 1 a factor that may play into the hands of Lyon.
The 10 MOST EXPENSIVE transfers in Premier League history!
If they do manage to win the race for the French/Central African Republic national, it will certainly be a bargain purchase.
We’ll report more as we hear it!
