West Ham ready to make £30m bid for Maguire alternative as talks stumble

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West Ham United are planning to make a £30m bid for Bayer Leverkusen defender Odilon Kossounou, as talks for Harry Maguire stumble a bit.

Kossounou is among a number of Leverkusen defenders who are high on the list of English clubs this summer.

For The Hammers, the priority remains getting a deal over the line for Manchester United’s Maguire. Talks have been ongoing over that, but as yet, nothing has been signed.

And according to The Sun, the deal for Maguire is apparently in jeopardy, with West Ham ready to make a £30m bid for Kossounou instead.

The Sun claims that there are some worries from the West Ham end that financial matters are going to be a problem.

With that, it means contingency plans are being drawn up and it looks like Kossounou is the one.

Lauded by his manager for being a very ‘fast’ player who is ‘valuable’ at set-pieces as well, the 22-year-old would very much be at the different end of the experience scale to Maguire.

Maguire still the one for West Ham

If The Hammers can get the deal for Maguire done in any way they can, then they do have to make sure it’s one they push through.

Maguire is a seasoned Premier League player, England international, and in general, just a very good defender at this level.

Yes, Kossounou has potential and has done well in Germany and for the Ivory Coast. But right now, David Moyes wants ready-made players and Maguire is very much that man.