Careful What You Ask For!

Midweek rumours suggest that West Ham's response to Tottenham's enquiry about the availability of Cheikhou Kouyate at £15million was to ask for Harry Kane in a swap deal. While this sounds like a typically cheeky David Sullivan put down, in fact you would have to wonder if Spurs would be getting the better deal.

Kouyate has established himself as a major part of the twin-engined West Ham midfield, alongside Captain Claret Mark Noble. However, Kouyate's speed has allowed Noble to press further forward this year knowing that his midfield colleague has the pace to track any counterattack if possession is lost. Moreover, Kouyate also pitches in offensively with his five goals coming at crucial times as he tends to pop out of nowhere to add an extra dimension to what is already a potent Hammers attack.

Many observers feel that Kouyate was unlucky not to receive greater recognition at the recent Annual Awards where, if Dimitri Payet was out of the equation, one suspects that the Senegalese dynamo would have been in the spotlight. In any other year he surely would have scooped up the Hammer of the year award?

Equally, Kane is a tremendous talent and represents exactly the type of forward that West Ham will be looking for in this Summer's transfer window. The best way to look at these rumours is that linking Kouyate to Kane indicates just how highly the Hammers management rate their midfielder. The good news is that having recently signed a five year contract it's clear that Kouyate is going nowhere.

And finally, as his offering at the Annual awards shows, the lad can sing!