According to reports from France, London club West Ham United are now eyeing a move for Ligue 1 forward Ryad Boudebouz as Slaven Bilic looks to end their summer window with a bang. The attacking midfielder has been one of the surprising packages from Ligue 1 side Montpellier and has gained massive traction from many European clubs this summer.
The Hammers have finally managed to get some good players in the transfer window, who are not new to the league and could give them a cracking start to the campaign right from the word go. Unlike last summer, when the likes of Simone Zaza and Sofiane Feghouli were just big names with hardly any real expectations, the likes of Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez has surely changed that among fans.
Bilic would expect to dominate the attacking third in departments of physique and pace with them, leaving the Croat boss with a creative midfielder to throw into the mix. The departure of Dimitri Payet midseason last campaign was a huge blow for the Irons amidst the mess they were already in and Bilic is yet to get a replacement for the Frenchman.
However, Boudebouz seems like the ideal fit for that role now given his tremendous versatility in the attacking third and flair in movements. Naturally, a number 10, the 27-year-old Algerian international has shown equal competence from the flanks as well. He really broke onto the fore last season scoring 11 goals and registering a whopping nine assists in all competitions last season.
According to Whoscored, no other player in the top five leagues in Europe has provided more key passes (117) than Boudebouz last season and fans can only fancy how deadly West Ham’s attack will be if they manage to land him behind the likes of Manuel Lanzini, Arnautovic and Chicharito.
And as far as his asking price is concerned, earlier reports have claimed that Montpellier have slapped an affordable price of £13million on their star player. And while the price tag looks quite gettable, the Hammers have to fight the likes of Ligue 1 giants AS Lyon and Serie A side Lazio to get the player.
The Algerian international has seen regular action in the national side managing 24 caps till now. The youth product of Ligue1 side FC Sochaux-Montbéliard isn’t a new face to the Premier League though as Merseyside club Liverpool had come dangerously close to landing him back in 2012 before the deal fell through.
