The make-up of Nuno Espirito Santo’s midfield selection is likely to spark plenty of debate ahead of Friday night’s Premier League matchday nine curtain raiser between Leeds and West Ham United.
Will Nuno persist with the Andy Irving – Tomas Soucek partnership which failed to lay a glove on Brentford a few days earlier?
After some sections of the West Ham United fanbase felt that Nuno had ‘lost the plot’ omitting Freddie Potts and Soungoutou Magassa, will a recall be on the cards at Elland Road?
In truth, the Hammers are yet to see the best of Magassa since his £14 million move from Monaco in August. Mateus Fernandes made an ‘exceptional’ start following that big-money transfer from Southampton, but he is yet to hit the heights of that brilliant debut against Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest.
So, while Hammers News can confirm that Nuno wants an ‘athletic’ striker at West Ham in the January transfer window, Give Me Sport say that a pacey, dynamic central midfielder is likely to come into the conversation again.
Kobbie Mainoo is ‘liked’ at the London Stadium, though it seems that Ruben Amorim has no plans to green-light a Manchester United exit, temporary or otherwise. Morten Frendrup of Genoa and Chelsea dynamo Andrey Santos remain in contention, too.
The name of Kenneth Taylor could soon be back in the gossip columns as well. Particularly with the Dutch edition of ESPN shedding a light on the Netherlands international’s growing frustration at Ajax.
Kenneth Taylor wanted to leave Ajax when West Ham United expressed their interest
Under the stewardship of former Hammers assistant coach John Heitinga, Ajax are currently four games without a win in all competitions.
A 5-1 Champions League blitzing at the hands of Chelsea – in which Taylor was shown a straight red card – followed a 4-0 loss at Marseille, plus dreadful domestic performances against AZ Alkmaar and Sparta Rotterdam.
Kenneth Taylor was linked with West Ham towards the end of the summer window, before they spent over £50 million bringing both Fernandes and Magassa to East London. Whether the 23-year-old Ajax academy graduate returns to their wishlist in time for January, only time will tell.
But, according to ESPN, Taylor made an ’emphatic push’ towards a late-summer exit after hearing of West Ham’s interest. The two-time Eredivisie champion has accused the Ajax bosses of broken promises, especially with regards to his transfer fee.
De Telegraaf report that FC Porto had an offer of around £13 million rejected in July. Ajax were demanding more than double that fee, slapping a £30 million price-tag on his head.
ESPN add that, while Wolves are preparing to go all in for Taylor come the turn of the year, a midfielder who scored 15 goals last season is not keen on a switch to Molineux.
They do not say how he would react if West Ham were to make an offer. Though one suspects, if he has reservations about a Wolves side struggling at the bottom of the Premier League, he would have similar concerns regarding West Ham.
Unless Nuno can spark a dramatic upturn in results over the next two months, of course.
Callum Wilson in contention with Nuno under pressure to make changes for Leeds clash
Nuno gave little away regards his team selection before Friday night’s 8pm kick-off in West Yorkshire.
He did confirm that Callum Wilson is in contention to start against Leeds, though. Niclas Fullkrug and Konstantinos Mavropanos are injured, along with youngster George Earthy. But the likes of Potts and Magassa may be rewarded provided they made the right impression on the training pitch this week.
“[Wilson] is working well, all the players are working well,” Nuno says. “It is up to us to take the decisions in the right moments.
“Tomorrow, we are going to prepare the game.”
“But the rest, like ‘JC’ [Todibo] for example, were out for a couple of weeks. Now, he is coming back, like Aaron
“All the players are options for us, as long as they are healthy, and we need them.”
