Al Ittihad in fight to keep N'Golo Kante in Saudi Arabia amid potential Premier League return with West Ham keen
07/19/2024 04:11 AM
Al Ittihad do not want to sell N’Golo Kante to West Ham this summer, talkSPORT understands.
The Hammers are interested in bringing the Chelsea icon back to the Premier League this summer with Julen Lopetegui a huge fan.
A £20million had been reported to be in the offing for the France international, who was one of the few players for Les Bleus to impress at Euro 2024.
But Al Ittihad are not interested in seeing the 33-year-old go, who put his injury troubles behind him to play all but four Saudi Pro League matches last season.
However, they have a fight on their hands to keep hold of the defensive midfielder, who is not against returning to London this summer.
The Hammers are desperate to bolster their midfield following Kalvin Phillips‘ disappointing loan spell from Manchester City.
With the Englishman returning to the Etihad and no permanent deal on the cards in east London, Lopetegui wants to sign Kante, who has been on his radar for some time.
When the Spaniard was briefly in charge of Real Madrid in 2018, he tried to sign the midfielder when he was plying his trade for Chelsea.
After leaving Stamford Bridge last year on a free transfer, it was thought that his fitness troubles would follow him after managing just seven Premier League appearances in the 22/23 campaign.
But Kante has looked back to his best with Al Ittihad and France and his experience could be vital to West Ham.
In total, Kante spent eight years in England – seven with Chelsea and one with Leicester.
He helped the Foxes to a shock Premier League title in his debut campaign in 2016 before doing the same a year later with the Blues.
The Frenchman would also win the Champions League, FA Cup and Europa League with Chelsea, as well as being named the PFA Player of the Year in 2017.
West Ham have already been busy in the transfer window this summer with three new arrivals in Max Kilman, Luis Guilherme and Wes Foderingham.
talkSPORT understands they are also keen on signing Manchester United star Aaron Wan-Bissaka as well as Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson, while Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo is also of interest.
