West Ham have sent scouts to the Under 21 Euros, with France the side they have been focusing on the most, according to ExWHUEmployee.
The West Ham insider confirmed that Jean-Philippe Mateta is one of those players the Hammers are interested in.
However, the scouts’ thoughts of France’s young men will not have been helped by the 4-1 loss they suffered in their semi final against Spain on Thursday evening – which will surely be seen as a humiliation due to the severity of the scoreline in such an important match.
Though it initially looked as though Mateta was getting them on track to win the game, as he converted a penalty which had been won by Jeff Reine-Adélaïde, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.
Things went downhill for him and France though, as Spain went on the rampage, scoring four goals between the 28th and 66th minute – including one which was created by a wonderful outside of the boot assist from Pablo Fornals.
While he didn’t get too much service due to Spain’s domination, Mateta’s statistics won’t have made great reading for the West Ham scouts.
He attempted six passes during the game, completing just three – though he did make one key pass.
Mateta is 192cm tall and won one of his three aerial duels during the game, while being dispossessed twice.
His shooting was relatively accurate, with two of his three shots going on target.
This performance will have been most frustrating because of the humiliating result, though it could also have impacted any potential West Ham move.
