Soungoutou Magassa, West Ham United’s new £14 million Premier League enforcer, only scratched the surface when it came to the formidable array of young midfield talent which could be found in France’s Ligue 1 over the summer.
Many of those young midfielders, meanwhile, joined Soungoutou Magassa on West Ham United’s wishlist at one point or another.
In fact, before the Hammers beat Nottingham Forest and Eintracht Frankfurt to the France Under-21 international, a handful of rival Ligue 1 prospects were brought up in conversation.
The Guardian reported that Lens’ Andy Diouf and Rennes’ Djaoui Cisse had been considered. Lille’s Ngal’ayel Mukau clearly caught the eye, too, during a pre-season clash at the London Stadium in early-August.
Stade Reims starlet Valentin Atangana was mentioned as well, albeit rather briefly.
Now, according to French publication Le10 Sport, West Ham actually made a bigger offer for another of those leggy Ligue 1 dynamos before luring Magassa away from the picturesque Principality.
Photo by Boris Streubel – UEFA/UEFA via Getty ImagesRennes rejected West Ham United’s reported Djaoui Cisse offer
Le10 Sport claim that West Ham submitted a £21.8 million package for the aforementioned Djaoui Cisse. They were willing to pay just over £19 million up front, plus a further £3 million in bonuses.
Rennes rejected that approach, though, determined as they are to build their team around the 21-year-old for the foreseeable future.
While reserve coach Mark Robson likened Mohamadou Kante to a young Patrick Vieira recently – the former Paris FC starlet has made a flying start to life in East London – the manner in which Djaoui Cisse took the summer’s Under-21 European Championships by storm was also somewhat reminiscent of the Arsenal icon.
🚀 Pied droit, pied gauche… notre milieu de terrain 𝐃𝐣𝐚𝐨𝐮𝐢 𝐂𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞́ a envoyé 2️⃣ missiles depuis l’extérieur de la surface contre la Pologne 🤩#U21EURO pic.twitter.com/FPH5mnfHWf
— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) June 18, 2025
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Striding forward from deep, Cisse curled a sublime right-footed shot into the top corner as France beat Poland 4-2 in the group stages. Not content with that, he then lashed in a thunderous second with his left boot.
His third goal of the tournament came from much closer in, but it was no less impressive.
This time, Cisse breezed past a Danish defender with a turn of pace and a shake of his hips before slotting home coolly.
Therefore, considering that Cisse likes to carry and shoot from a more advanced midfield role, it is probably safe to assume that he was not viewed as an alternative to the more defensively-minded Soungoutou Magassa, but instead a potential back-up if Southampton had refused to cash in on Mateus Fernandes.
“He’s shown all his qualities. He’s become a French [youth] international, and expectations are going to be higher than last year,” Rennes coach Habib Beye told Ouest France after that reported West Ham bid was rejected.
“We have to be very demanding of him, but that’s normal. He also understands that he’s no longer looked at in the same way, that he’s no longer expected [to perform] in the same way, that we no longer defend him in the same way.
“I’ll impose this requirement on him every day, not to cause him problems, but to help him improve.”
Graham Potter on why West Ham signed Soungoutou Magassa from Monaco
As for Magassa, who also represented France’s Under-21s and played as a centre-back in the 3-0 semi-final defeat by Germany in June, a first West Ham start could come his way away to David Moyes’ Everton on Monday night.
Magassa impressed the West Ham fans off the bench during his Premier League bow at home to Tottenham. Now, up against an athletic Everton midfield including the box-crashing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, his energy out of possession feels especially valuable.
“We are very happy to welcome Soungoutou to West Ham United,” Potter said during the youngster’s unveiling. “Like Mateus Fernandes, he is a young player who has made very impressive progress right at the start of his senior career.
“He has played regularly for Monaco over the past two seasons, including in the Champions League last year, and stood up really well to that test.
“He has a range of attributes and qualities that we feel will complement what we already have at the club and also help to improve us.
“Soungoutou is a determined, hungry and focused young man – we are looking forward to working with him and excited to see him continue his development with us.”
Another promising Frenchman made his first appearance in claret and blue last week. Versatile defender Dimitri Colau featured for West Ham for the first time since his arrival from Paris FC in the 5-1 EFL Cup beating of MK Dons.