Transfer latest: Spurs sign Bissouma, West Ham agree £29.8m Aguerd deal
Tottenham have completed the signing of the midfielder Yves Bissouma from Brighton for £25m plus add-ons.
Bissouma has signed a four-year deal and becomes the club’s third signing since Antonio Conte’s side secured Champions League football. The Mali international will compete with PierreEmile Højbjerg, Rodrigo Bentancur and Oliver Skipp. The futures of Harry Winks, Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso are uncertain.
“To be here in London, with Spurs, and the Champions League music, imagine?” Bissouma told Spurs TV. “The emotion is too much. I just say thank you to God. It is my dream to play Champions League. When I was younger I remember watching the Champions League every day and I can’t believe to play Champions League for Spurs. I am so happy.”
Conte was eager for Tottenham to build a squad capable of challenging in the Premier League and Champions League and is being backed. It was announced at the end of May that the club’s owner, Enic, would put in up to £150m, the majority for transfers, and Ivan Perisic and Fraser Forster have already joined.
More signings are expected to follow that of Bissouma, who had one year left to run on his Brighton deal. The 25-year-old moved there in 2018 and made more than 100 appearances in all competitions.
Brighton’s manager, Graham Potter, said: “The transfer is a very good one for the club and player. Yves has shown his undoubted ability and been an important player for us during his time with us. Now he has a new challenge with Tottenham, including the opportunity to play Champions League football, and everyone at the club wishes him well.”
West Ham are on the verge of ending their search for a new centreback after agreeing to buy Nayef Aguerd from Rennes for £29.8m. The signing is a boost for David Moyes, who has been keen to improve the balance of his defence by bringing in a left-sided centre-back before another campaign of European football. Moyes tried to sign Aguerd 12 months ago and the Morocco international is poised to become West Ham’s first summer signing.
Aguerd, who helped Rennes finish fourth in Ligue 1 last season and qualify for the Europa League, arrived in London on Thursday and has agreed personal terms. He has undergone a medical and West Ham expect to finalise the transfer over the weekend. The 26-year-old, who joined Rennes from Dijon in 2020, will provide competition for Kurt Zouma, Craig Dawson, Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna.
West Ham are looking to strengthen after reaching the Europa League semi-finals. They have qualified for the Europa Conference League and are trying to make further additions. Moyes wants to sign the Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, who was on loan at the London Stadium last season, plus a left-back to compete with Aaron Cresswell and a striker. He has also targeted the Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse, but is likely to miss out on the Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips to Manchester City.
Meanwhile, Moyes and West Ham’s captain, Declan Rice, have been banned by Uefa for one and two matches respectively following the club’s Europa League defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt. Moyes’s sanction is for unsporting conduct while Rice’s is for abusing the referee during the second leg of last month’s semi-final defeat.
Moyes was shown a straight red card by the referee, Jesús Gil Manzano, for kicking the ball at a ball boy while Rice accused the Spanish official of corruption after the 1-0 loss in Frankfurt had sealed the Bundesliga side’s 3-1 aggregate win.
Uefa has also fined West Ham €1,502 for their fans’ use of fireworks at Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank