da betsson： West Ham United can greater frustrate Premier League rivals Burnley by reviving the east London outfit’s failed efforts to sign RC Strasbourg Alsace defender Mohamed Simakan.
What’s the word?
da stake casino： According to The Sun, Burnley are pushing manager Sean Dyche to make a £15million bid for Simakan after the Clarets’ team of scouts identified the 20-year-old as their favourite defensive target for the January window.
Dyche had been at loggerheads with the Burnley hierarchy and owner Mike Garlick over transfer targets this summer, which allowed West Ham and David Moyes to swoop in and sign Craig Dawson on loan from Watford.
Clarets chiefs continue to disagree with Dyche over the club’s targets approaching the January window, but could convince the manager to pursue Simakan after the Hammers and AC Milan failed in efforts to sign the defender this summer.
France Football, via Sport Witness, have claimed Strasbourg turned down a €17m (£15.3m) offer from West Ham that featured €3m (£2.7m) in add-ons to meet their €20m (£18m) valuation, but the Meinau Stadium side were greedy and convinced themselves that €30m (£27.1m) would be attainable.
Their decision to reject all offers having also snubbed a €15m (£13.5m) bid from Milan frustrated Simakan, as the 6 ft 1 talent was keen to test his hand in a new division and particularly felt that the Premier League would have been an ideal destination.
Moyes can greater frustrate Burnley
Having already frustrated Burnley boss Dyche by signing Dawson, West Ham can greater agitate the Turf Moor outfit by returning to Strasbourg in January in the hopes of signing Simakan as the Ligue 1 side’s form could spark a fire sale in order to gain as much value as possible.
Strasbourg have begun the 2020/21 campaign in almost the worst way imaginable with six defeats from seven games, leaving Thierry Laurey’s side just a point above the automatic relegation spots thanks to a solitary win over basement boys Dijon.
Laurey’s side and Dijon also share Ligue 1’s worst goal difference at minus-10, after Strasbourg conceded a division-high 16 goals in their opening fixtures to the six scored – marking the second-worst offence in the French top-flight behind Dijon’s four goals.
Simakan has done all he can to help inspire a turn of form at the Meinau Stadium with Ligue 1’s 12th-most ground duels won (28), 14th-most tackles (14) and 18th-most interceptions (13) and aerial duels won (14) by a defender thus far, per SofaScore. He has also recorded the most passes (327) and the highest number of accurate long balls (43) by a Strasbourg player.
His efforts with Strasbourg before the current campaign also inspired comparisons with Real Madrid icon Sergio Ramos, his teammate Raphael Varane and Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte by Field Insider.
They lauded Simakan highly due to the Marseille-born defender’s athletic qualities being of a similar style to that of Varane and Laporte, while his decision-making and abilities as a leader can help inspire and motivate teammates in any situation.
AND in other news, West Ham won’t be missing a £22.5m-rated man after his summer transfer after a forlorn debut with his new side.