David Moyes appears to have made Amadou Onana one of his top targets to replace Arsenal-bound Declan Rice, but there could be a better alternative out there for West Ham United at a cheaper price.
Who should West Ham sign to replace Rice?
Money is not an issue for West Ham this summer given they are about to land £105m through the sale of Rice to Arsenal, a deal that is close to being officially announced.
That is not to say the Hammers want to overpay for any player, but it seems unlikely Everton will budge on their reported £55m valuation of Onana, who impressed in his debut Premier League campaign.
Not only that, Chelsea are also supposedly eyeing up the Belgium international should they be unable to land their own top target in Brighton and Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo.
West Ham should not worry too much about the prospect of missing out on Onana, though, as The Sun claims the Europa Conference League winners are also interested in signing Scott McTominay from Manchester United.
Would Scott McTominay be a good signing for West Ham?
McTominay featured 24 times for United in the Premier League last season, but the imminent arrival of Mason Mount from Chelsea will push the Scotsman further down the midfield pecking order.
The 26-year-old has been praised and criticised in equal measure across his six seasons as a United regular, but there is no doubt he is good enough for a side outside of the top six.
Indeed, on the basis of his performances over the past 12 months, FBref's player comparison model ranks Onana as the player second-most like McTominay from midfielders in the English top flight.
The pair have an identical return of 0.17 goals per shots on target, while also attempting an identical number of passes (33.5 per 90), with Onana ever so slightly ahead in terms of passing accuracy (83.3% v 82.2%).
While Onana also has a slightly better figure in terms of tackles won per 90 (1.56 v 1.47), McTominay ranks better when it comes to aerial challenges won (2.64 v 2.17) and ball recoveries (6.05 v 5.43).
Described in December 2020 as a "physical monster" by then-United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and someone who "can do everything", it would not be harsh to suggest McTominay's Old Trafford career has not quite taken off in the way many may have hoped.
But valued at a slightly smaller fee than Onana at £50m, according to the Daily Star, and with the midfielder recently adding more goals to his game, it may be a move worth pursuing for Moyes to kick-start to post-Rice era.
