West Ham in for AC Milan's "new N'golo Kante" to end 14-year wait for American dream

Photo by Alessandro Schiavone (London Stadium), Wikimedia Commons (USA flag)

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone

Five American players have been on West Ham United's books throughout their 130-year history.

Yet only one of them, defender Jonathan Spector, made his mark in east London, gracing 115 appearances across five seasons with four goals.

Either side of Spector, the likes of Ian Feuer, Sebastian Lletget, John Harkes and George John barely got the Hammers' faithful pulses racing. They amassed a total of 17 appearances at Upton Park before fading into oblivion.

Seventeen could now be the price tag, in million pounds, that the east Londoners may have to part with to secure the services of AC Milan midfielder Yunus Musah.

The Hammers have already decided to send Carlos Soler back to Paris Saint-Germain while question marks remain over the future of Edson Alvarez who has struggled for consistency in the Premier League.

Hence sporting director Mark Noble and Head of Recruitment Kyle Macaulay are weighing up their options to beef up an area that has been singled out as their Achilles Heel.

Top of the list is American international Musah who is regarded as the perfect profile identikit at London Stadium. The New Yorker joined Milan from Valencia in 2023 and was on the cusp of a move to Antonio Conte's Napoli last week.

But negotiations between the Rossoneri and the Partenopei are at an impasse as Musah's parent club want to add easy player-related add-ons to his €20m fixed fee. While the Italian champions have offered harder-to-meet club-related accolades as bonuses. West Ham could pounce and hijack the deal, having both the financial means to satisfy the player and Milan.

The 22-year-old USA international has neither been a success nor a flop at San Siro. Yet he's probably paid the price for succeeding superstars such Sandro Tonali and Franck Kessie.

He brings all the ingredients to the table such as physicality, intensity and dynamism and could be likened to Premier League legend N'Golo Kante.

Just like the ex-Leicester and Chelsea midfield gladiator, Musah is a hard runner who covers every blade of grass and loves making late charges in or around the penalty area. His ability to win the ball back and charge forward or feed the wingers can be useful for the way the ex-Chelsea manager Graham Potter wants to play. A bundle of energy who runs for two, his end product is however an area where he could do with some shooting practice after training at Rush Green. But neither was it Declan Rice's ace up his sleeve in his early days before he trashed Real Madrid and Newcastle with a hat-trick of worldies in spring.

Talks between the two sides have yet to begin but the 19-time Serie A winners are happy to sell to bankroll the signings of ex-Arsenal powerhouse Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen and Javi Guerra from Musah's ex-La Liga club Valencia.