{"id":533848,"date":"2025-10-28T18:59:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T18:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/533848\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T18:59:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T18:59:11","slug":"west-ham-have-a-modern-premier-league-midfielder-who-hasnt-even-played-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/533848\/","title":{"rendered":"West Ham have a ‘modern Premier League midfielder’ who hasn’t even played yet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mark Robson might not have done Mohamadou Kante much of a favour when he likened West Ham United\u2019s French starlet to Premier League icon and former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But while the Hammers\u2019 academy manager Kenny Brown stopped short of repeating such comparisons this week, he did go some way to explaining why Robson might have had a point.<\/p>\n

And who knows, while Tim Steidten is not exactly Mr Popular at West Ham United right now, perhaps Mohamadou Kante could become the German\u2019s legacy<\/a> in East London. <\/p>\n

Kante joined from Paris FC for a reported \u00a3500,000<\/a> in 2024, on Steidten\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n

After helping his old employers earn promotion to Ligue 1 after returning on loan, the 20-year-old finally made the move across the Channel over the summer.<\/p>\n

And it is fair to say the West Ham fans like what they see<\/a> with Mohamadou Kante<\/a>. An imposing physical presence at 5ft 10ins, he stands out head and shoulders \u2013 sometimes literally \u2013 above the rest of the youngsters in Under-21 football. <\/p>\n

Mark Robson made those Patrick Vieira comparisons<\/a> after a 2-0 victory over Woking in August. <\/p>\n

Kante scored on his Hammers U21 debut that day, showcasing a formidable combination of power and finesse. The kind of which Vieira used to dominate many a Premier League midfield in his Arsenal heyday.<\/p>\n

\"MohamadouPhoto by Rich von Biberstein\/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesKenny Brown says West Ham United starlet Mohamadou Kante is Premier League-made<\/p>\n

Two months on from that flying start to life in claret and blue, Kante was rewarded with a contract extension until the summer of 2031. <\/p>\n

That West Ham were determined to tie him down to a longer deal, only a year after he signed his first one, speaks volumes about how highly he is regarded. Presumably, in and outside of East London, for that matter.<\/p>\n

And Brown, who has helped oversee the development of Freddie Potts, George Earthy, Callum Marshall and Ollie Scarles since his appointment in 2023, shares Robson\u2019s view that there is a \u2018modern Premier League midfielder\u2019 waiting to burst out of the Kante chrysalis. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think what probably surprised everyone was how quickly he settled in,\u201d Brown tells the club\u2019s official website<\/a>. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have been easy because he went straight away with the first team to Germany, then to the States, so he didn\u2019t come into the Under-21s set-up until late in pre-season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hadn\u2019t played any minutes, so to see where he is now in such a short period of time has been really encouraging. He looks like he\u2019s enjoying his football, and the way he\u2019s now taking control of games at Under-21s level is promising.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysically, he\u2019s an athlete. That is the modern profile of a Premier League midfielder. You\u2019ve got to have energy, cover ground and have presence, but he\u2019s more than that. He\u2019s got real ability on the ball and can score goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an excellent start for him. There\u2019s still a lot to learn as he continues developing, but he\u2019s really well thought of in the dressing room and among the staff. He comes in with a big smile on his face and works hard every day. We\u2019re delighted to have extended his contract and secured him for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Robson likened Kante to Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira<\/p>\n

West Ham\u2019s rising star is not shying away<\/a> from setting himself some rather ambitious goals during his maiden campaign on English soil. He hopes to end 2025\/26 with 20 goals and assists from the middle of the park. The Paris-born dynamo has four already \u2013 two apiece \u2013 from just nine appearances.<\/p>\n

And while towering centre-back Airidas Golambeckis is West Ham\u2019s captain<\/a> at Under-21 level these days, Kante was chosen to lead the team out during the recent 3-1 EFL Trophy defeat by Reading. Clearly, in addition to the \u2018energy, presence [and] real ability on the ball\u2019 highlighted by Brown, Kante possesses an ability to lead by example too.<\/p>\n

As Arsenal\u2019s skipper from 2002 to 2005, there\u2019s another Vieira-ism to add to the collection.<\/p>\n

\u201cMo is a big boy. A couple of times when he pressed, he\u2019s got these long legs and he just nicked the ball off people, really clever,\u201d Robson said. \u201cHe\u2019s like a Patrick Vieira kind of central midfield player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kante \u2018really proud\u2019 as he signs new West Ham deal<\/p>\n

While fellow Frenchman Soungoutou Magassa is taking his time adapting<\/a> to life in England, Kante himself admits that the sheer chest-thumping brutality of football this side of the sea has taken him aback, even if he looks a lot better placed to deal with it than most his age.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysically, I\u2019ve always had good stamina, but here it\u2019s another level. I\u2019m making progress in that area and working harder for it too; the training sessions are more intense,\u201d Kante says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working hard in the gym and on the pitch, and I\u2019m feeling better and better. Even tactically, I\u2019m learning all the time and think I\u2019m improving and getting stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy relationship with my teammates is developing really well. Communicating can still be a bit tricky, but we understand each other. I\u2019ve been taking English classes, and even off the pitch we can chat together, which is great.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me really proud [to sign a new contract]. I have to keep working hard and pushing myself. When you\u2019re focused on improving every day, that\u2019s all you think about, so I\u2019m very happy and I thank the club for the confidence they\u2019ve shown in me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mark Robson might not have done Mohamadou Kante much of a favour when he likened West Ham United\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4100],"tags":[94,172673,172674,172675,172676,101,79,16,15],"class_list":["post-533848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-kenny-brown","tag-mark-robson","tag-mohamadou-kante","tag-patrick-vieira","tag-premier-league","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115453334646815212","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}