Several West Ham United supporters have been discussing on social media whether or not it was a mistake to sell Cheikhou Kouyaté to Crystal Palace back in 2018, in response to a question posed by @westham_gossip on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/westham_gossip/status/1226964510860365824
The Senegalese international spent four seasons with the Hammers between 2014 and 2018 and in that time he racked up 147 appearances in all competitions, scoring 15 goals and providing 10 assists from midfield (Transfermarkt). However, despite being a regular for the club, they opted to let him go to their London rivals a couple of years ago in a deal worth just £11m (The Guardian).
Since moving to Palace, he has more often than not been in the team, playing 61 times for them in all competitions in just over a season and a half (Transfermarkt). This season, he has been performing to a good standard and there is certainly an argument to suggest that West Ham could have done with him in their team.
Indeed, the former Anderlecht man has been excellent from a defensive point of view, winning 65 aerial battles and making 28 interceptions, 35 clearances and four blocks (premierleague.com). Those numbers certainly eclipse Hammers man Mark Noble, who by comparison has won just 13 aerial battles and has made 16 interceptions, seven clearances and just one block (premierleague.com).
[freshpress-poll id=”278969″]
However, despite his impressive statistics, it seems that most West Ham fans do not think that selling the 30-year-old was a mistake as they believe that he wasn’t good enough for them. That said, some do believe that the club did make an error in not properly replacing him.
Here is what some have been saying about it on Twitter…
Not upgrading or even replacing him was the biggest mistake. This is all part of the lack of structure and direction something we have been missing since Pardew in my humble opinion who built a team that made sense and had competition all over the pitch.
— Rob Waldon WHUFC ⚒ (@RobWaldon) February 10, 2020
Nope not investing in a better player was
— will earle (@willearle_) February 10, 2020
Nope
Not replacing him was the huge mistake— ⚒Mitchell⚒ (@WHUMitchell) February 10, 2020
No. He’d lost interest at West Ham. A non-trier for quite some time.
— I am West Ham Van (@WesthamVan1) February 10, 2020
Selling him isn’t the “huge” mistake – he seemed disinterested and also didn’t really nail a position (cm, dm, rb, cb). Not reinvesting the funds in someone to replace is the huge mistake
— Niall Tasker (@tiskyboo) February 10, 2020
Not even close. Selling him to Palace was one best things we did. And I know people talk about replacing him. We did replace him with Declan rice.
— Chris (@ChrisConnor93) February 10, 2020
No, he wasn’t good enough. Only mistake was not replacing him
— Jack Fleming (@jack_fleming8) February 10, 2020
No. He had gone off the boil some time before he was sold. If Palace are getting a tune out of him, it doesn’t mean we would.
— Iron Thompson (@at67435) February 10, 2020
West Ham fans, do you think that the club made a mistake in selling Cheikhou Kouyate? Let us know below…
