West Ham £4.2m away from 'one of the best' young midfielders in the world

West Ham United have reportedly set their sights on United States international forward Yunus Musah.

This is according to Estadio Deportivo, who claim the Hammers have made an approach for the Valencia star.

The report also suggests that West Ham are less than £5million off matching the club’s valuation of Musah.

West Ham will want to kick on in wake of winning the Europa Conference League and staying in the Premier League.

And Estadio Deportivo – via Sport Witness – claim the Hammers have conveyed their interest to Musah’s entourage.

The 20-year-old’s move would be contingent on Declan Rice leaving West Ham, according to the report.

The Hammers apparently see Musah as a ‘midfielder with the potential to grow in the team’.

Better still, it looks as though West Ham stand a pretty good chance of landing the young midfielder.

Musah’s departure is reportedly ‘closer than ever’ at this moment in time.

This is apparently due to the dip in his performances last season and the La Liga side’s need to sell.

Musah reportedly has a €100m (£86.6m) release clause, but the report says he can leave for around €25m (£21.4m).

It’s explained that for now, West Ham are at about €20m (£17.2m).

Our view

This is an exciting report for the Hammers and, if true, suggests they could be pretty close to signing Musah.

West Ham will obviously try to negotiate a deal for him, and hopefully the two clubs will come to an agreement.

If Rice does go, the Hammers will then have much more leeway to bolster their ranks with top-quality players.

Musah isn’t 21 until November, but he already has over 100 competitive outings for Valencia and 24 USA caps.

Back in 2020, Gio Reyna told Rising Ballers: “There’s a reason he’s playing for Valencia every week.

“He’s a big player and one of the best U18s in the world.”

More recently, ESPN listed him as one of the 39 best young players in the game right now.

All in all, Musah seems like a great shout for West Ham. Let’s see what happens in the coming weeks.