Top 5 premier league giants join race for Wanyama transfer

Image result for victor wanyama

Last summer Tottenham Hotspur were reportedly set to allow Victor Wanyama to join Roma.

According to Italian outlet La Repubblica (h/t MailOnline’s Ben Nagle), the Giallorossi were pursuing Steven Nzonzi but they  set their sights on Wanyama having failed to secure the France international’s signature.

Spurs were yet to do any recruitment of their own  with the deadline to buy players looming on Thursday, August 9 at 5 p.m. but were still open to  sell players for the remainder of the month.

The Kenyan missed the first half of last season after suffering a knee injury at the start of the campaign, so he only made 24 appearances in all competitions, half of which were starts.

 

Image result for victor wanyama training

His form seemed to suffer as a result of the injury, as he struggled to impress upon his return.

He has also suffered a recurrence of that knee problem in pre-season training in July, which required him to be sent home from Spurs’ tour of the United States.

Wanyama’s distribution is something of a weakness, and that can be an issue for Spurs at times, but the 27-year-old brings a great deal of strength and physicality in midfield to protect the back line and break up opponents’ play through the middle.

He can also provide cover at centre-back, making him a versatile and valuable option in the squad.

Football writer Andrew Gaffney cast doubt on the idea of selling him towards the end of last season:

 

However West Ham United are readying a January offer for Tottenham midfielder Victor Wanyama, according to Football Insider.

Image result for West Ham United

However, following a stellar debut campaign with the North Londoners, during which he racked up 35 Premier League starts, Wanyama has since found game-time far more difficult to come by.

Victor Wanyama celebrates after scoring during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Tottenham

And Wanyama has since followed his disappointing campaign last time out with an equally dismal start to the current season, with the former Celtic and Southampton man having appeared for a grand total of just 57 minutes in the English top-flight to this point.And, as per the aforementioned report from Football Insider, one club looking to take advantage of Wanyama’s struggles in North London are Tottenham’s capital rivals, West Ham.

Image result for victor wanyama training

‘Have shortlisted Wanyama as they look to bring in central midfield reinforcements.’

As such, West Ham’s board are said to be ready to lodge an offer for the Kenyan powerhouse in January.

Manuel Pellegrini looks on prior to the Premier League match between West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers

Image result for west ham united vs tottenham hotspur

West Ham and Spurs are actually set to face off tomorrow night, in a Carabao Cup Last-16 clash at the London Stadium.

Visitors Tottenham will be hoping for an immediate bounce-back performance following their disappointing 1-0 loss to Manchester City last night.

Hosts West Ham, meanwhile, will no doubt have been encouraged by their last outing, which saw the Hammers only denied 3 points at Leicester by an 89th-minute equalizer, despite Mark Noble’s first-half red card.

Image result for victor wanyama training

The 27-year-old joined Spurs from Southampton in the summer of 2016, for a fee believed to be in the region of £11 million, and he has since gone on to chalk up 76 appearances in all competitions.

With Rose, Alderweireld and Wanyama all valued at £50m while Dembele can go for around £20m plus, the North Londoners are aiming to raise transfer funds.

A number of top European clubs have shown keen interest to sign Wanyama among them, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and AS Roma.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *