Sold at £36.5m, now worth £68m: West Ham had a shocker on "exceptional" 21 y/o "beast" - opinion

West Ham are facing a crisis situation at centre-back, with Kurt Zouma’s off-the-field actions, Angelo Ogbonna still recovering from a long-term injury, and just out-of-favour Issa Diop available as back-up, after manager David Moyes switched to a back-three formation in recent games.

Aaron Cresswell, Ben Johnson and Declan Rice are all also capable of playing in the three, but the club will be ruing their decision to have not brought in Leicester star Wesley Fofana last season, who would have fitted the system so well and provided some much needed squad depth and competition for a starting spot.

Back in September 2020, the Hammers were desperate to land the French defender according to Sky Sports, having had a number of bids knocked back, including their final £33m offer, which was also rejected by Saint Etienne.

Not long after, the exciting young prospect completed a move to Leicester City for £36.5m – with their payment plan more upfront than the Hammers’ proposed deal, leaving Moyes and the London Stadium faithful feeling frustrated.

Averaging a 7.00 match rating according to SofaScore in his debut season in England, Fofana became a fan favourite at the King Power Stadium, winning praise from the likes of teammate James Maddison, for his combative and composed performances at the back.

“He’s a real top young player, I don’t want to speak too highly of him in case people are listening!” said the English midfielder in an interview with BBC Sport.

“He’s very good and he’s settled in very well. We have a fantastic defender in Caglar Soyuncu who is sat on the bench at the minute and can’t get in the team because Jonny Evans’ experience is priceless and Fofana looks solid as a rock at 20-years-old.

“Hopefully is form can