It'd be remiss of us to overlook a decent campaign for Mark Noble during which he scored five goals and recorded a further five assists last time out but Old Father Time will clearly catch up with him at some point over the coming years. A key cog in the West Ham United engine room, the 32-year-old is perhaps not quite the relentless figure he was when ranking 3^rd in the 2015/16 season in terms of ground covered (416.1 KM).

Clearly, that's a reflection on his ageing years and a change in tactical system under Manuel Pellegrini but the point we're trying to make is that, no matter how hard it might seem, a succession plan does need to be made as the academy graduate enters the autumn of his career.

To that end, Pellegrini is apparently eying a new option. According to ExWHUemployee, the Hammers are allegedly interested in Marseille’s Morgan Sanson and that's a move that'd make sense.

Now, no one is denying Noble’s importance to the squad and strong bond with the fans considering his undying loyalty with West Ham. However, considering the Guardian recently linked the Irons with Celta Vigo’s Stanislav Lobotka and also with Andre Gomes when the transfer window opened this month, there’s clearly a strong emphasis on midfield recruitments.

As far as Sanson (valued £25.2m by Transfermarkt) is concerned, he could be considered more of an attacking outlet, earning interest from Wolves (according to the Birmingham Mail) recently. When you look at the superior forward passes and chances created (per Squawka) Sanson boasts over Noble, perhaps we can start to understand the interest.

WhoScored rank some of his strengths as dribbling, long shots and believe he likes to dribble on the ball and these are traits that would suit the West Ham midfield fairly well. That kind of attacking impetus could help bring more goals throughout the team and potentially ease the burden on the club's strikeforce, who recently lost Andy Carroll and barely covered themselves in glory anyway.

Moreover, averaging 2.1 tackles and 1.6 interceptions per game as compared to Noble’s 1.5 tackles and 0.7 interceptions, Sanson can help going the other way.

Stats don't always tell the whole story, of course, but the apparent interest in Sanson does certainly look well-placed and perhaps he can one day help the team deal without Mark Noble.

Hammers fans, would you be happy with Sanson's potential signing? Join the discussion by commenting below...