Marcel Brands may be about to land our next centre-forward, with reports in Calciomercato stating that we are willing to guarantee Genoa €30million (£25.8m) to sign Christian Kouame.
The 21-year-old is seen as one of the more likely candidates to walk through the Rossoblu’s exit door in the summer, with interest in his signature stemming from the Serie A, with Napoli and AC Milan mentioned, and here in England, with the Toffees and West Ham both said to be interested.
It is only the interest from the Premier League, however, where Calciomercato understands Genoa Chairman Enrico Preziosi has been offered guarantees that his €30m valuation will be met – that being both the Hammers and us.
Brands sealing the deal for the Ivory Coast U23 international, though, would be a step in the wrong direction by our Director of Football, as Kouame would not suit the criteria that Marco Silva has set out for his new potential leading man.
In his 28 Serie A outings this term, the Abidjan-born attacker – who dabbled between Prato, Sassuolo and Inter Milan as a youth – has only managed to score four goals, while assisting a further six.
Worryingly, that is his second-best seasonal tally to date, with his previous best – 11 in 40 games – set in the Serie B for AS Citadel, excluding their failed run in the Play Offs.
Silva has made it clear, via quotes by the Liverpool Echo, that a player with this sort of stature would not suit the plan he has in place for the summer’s spending.
That’s because, when asked what his main priority for a new number nine is, the boss said: “An ability to score!”
“That is the first one. If you can be a target man, like we have with Dominic [Calvert-Lewin] now and like I had in some clubs, is also really important.
“But I also like some mobility in the striker. Today, in football, it is really important you have some mobility in that position, because the defenders are stronger and if you can have some mobility to connect the game with your midfielders and, after that, to have the capacity to score goals is really important.
“Mobility and the capacity to connect with your team is really important to me but, the most important thing for them and for me as a manager, is if they have the capacity to score the goals.”
If Silva is after a striker who can regularly etch his name on the scoresheet, Brands best look for somewhere other than Genoa to splash upwards of £25million.