OPINION
West Ham must hijack Southampton’s reported agreement to sign Basel star Mohamed Elyounoussi this summer as he would be a stunning addition to Manuel Pellegrini’s attack.
News outlet HITC has reported that the Saints and Wolfsburg have agreed a fee worth around £17million to sign Elyounoussi, 23, as Mark Hughes looks to continue adding to his squad at St Mary’s after Stuart Armstrong was signed from Celtic on Tuesday.
The Norway international is someone who is reportedly already known to West Ham with the Mirror claiming in March that the Hammers are in hot pursuit of him.
Now is the time for Pellegrini to make a swoop though to ensure that Elyounoussi doesn’t wind up at one of their Premier League rivals.
The 23-year-old assist king was in stunning form for Basel last season.
He scored 13 goals and created 17 for his team mates in 44 appearances across all competitions.
There’s no doubt that his best performances were reserved for the Champions League though as he helped Basel qualify for the knock-out rounds in a group containing Manchester United, Benfica and CSKA Moscow.
Elyounoussi then destroyed Premier League giants Manchester City in the first knock-out round as he scored and supplied an assist in a 2-1 win for his side at the Etihad in the second leg.
Someone of Elyoussousi’s quality should not be passed up on by the Hammers and Pellegrini must put in a bid of his own as soon as possible in order to present him joining Southampton.