West Ham United are "very high" on the idea of signing American international Yunus Musah, according to journalist Paul Brown.
West Ham United transfer news – What's the latest on Yunus Musah?
Speaking to GiveMeSport, the reporter said:
"I'm told West Ham are very high on Yunus Musah and have been for some time now. The player had a decent World Cup. His form tailed off a little bit for his club towards the end of last season."
The 'hard-working' no.6 six had a good World Cup with the USMNT, starting all four of their matches, including the goalless draw with England, before going out in the last-16 at the hands of the Netherlands.
However, since his return to LaLiga, he has faded somewhat, scoring no goals in his 33 appearances and assisting just two, an undeniably poor return for an attack-minded central midfielder.
Brown also believes this dropoff in form has "affected the interest of some other clubs around the world."
Spanish publication Estadio Deportivo have reported that whilst the player has an eye-watering release clause of €100m (£85m) due to Los Che's need to raise money, the American would likely be sold for as little as €25m (£21m).
With the confirmation that Declan Rice will be allowed to leave in the summer, Musah could well be eyed as one of his replacements.
Would Yunus Musah just be Alex Kral 2.0?
Many Hammers fans might've completely forgotten that Alex Kral had even spent a year with the club, but that's exactly how long he spent in east London.
During that time, the Czech Republic international played a grand total of one minute in the Premier League.
The 'disaster' of a loan spell, as described by the Daily Star, is pertinent to the signing of Musah due to how similar the player's numbers are, only this time, the Hammers look set to spend £21m to get their man.
According to Opta's The Analyst, the pair share a 54.1% similarity in their style of play, with neither one excelling in more than one area of their game.
The only area that stands out for the young American, for example, is touches in the opposition box, where he sits in the top 26% of midfielders with at least 1350 minutes, so even that is hardly game-changing for a Premier League side.
At least for Kral, he finds himself in the top 15% for aerial duals won, but that is his only stand-out quality, with his next best-being touches in the opposition box, where he sits in the top 37% of midfielders.
When compared directly against one another, the similarities become even more apparent.
According to FBref, there is just 0.01 separating the two regarding shot-creating actions per 90, with the Valencia man at 2.01 and Kral at 2.02.
How far each player carried the ball per 90 is a similar story, with the New York-born talent reaching just 27.6 yards and his Czech counterpart 21.1.
The one area that the one-time Arsenal youth product does beat West Ham's one-minute man is in the defensive side of the game – where also, per FBref, he won 1.5 tackles per 90 compared to 0.92.
With all that said, Musah's age, just 20, means that there will likely be improvements in his game in the future and with the right coaching, he could reach the levels people were expecting just a few years ago but that sort of time is something that David Moyes can ill-afford heading into a hectic campaign that'll involve European action once again.
For example, Antonello Orfeo, the club president at his first club, Giorgione Calcio 2000, was full of praise for the then ten-year-old, saying:
"The boy already had something special. I dare say he was the classic phenomenon. Those at his age couldn't compete with him."
So there could be some upside with the signing, but at this point in time, it looks like it could result in disappointment for all involved.