Cheik it out: West Ham midfielder is Tottenham's latest transfer target

Sooner or later you reach the bottom of the deadline transfer barrel, and this rumor might be it. According to Charlie Wyatt at the Sun, Tottenham are weighing up a £15m bid for West Ham midfielder Chiekhou Kouyate as they continue to try and bolster their central midfield options.

Spurs are attempting a £15m move for West Ham midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate #WHUFC #thfc http://t.co/EBuGPKsC4s

— Charlie Wyett (@CharlieWyett) August 31, 2015

Spurs are trying to sign Kouyate, Wanyama and Berahino but tho all three want to go, would not surprise me if #thfc end up with none of them

— Charlie Wyett (@CharlieWyett) August 31, 2015

So first things first: it's the Sun, and the article itself is still hilariously behind a paywall, so take the rumor with the requisite salt mine. That said, Kouyate is actually a pretty interesting rumor. He's a physical central midfielder with defensive tendencies, kinda, but one who loves to make forward runs through the opposition defense and with a nose for goal. He's not really a DM, not really a box-to-box, not really a destroyer. He has the ability to drop into central defense in a pinch, but he's not really a defender, either. He's super strong and creates a lot of havoc in the center of midfield. He's like a cross between Ryan Mason and Yaya Toure. If I had to peg him to a position, it'd be "f**k you."

Kouyate is hella fun, but I'm not sure exactly what role he would play in Spurs' midfield. He's not going to sit back and shield the back line like Eric Dier. If he's not being asked to play as a DM, then he's essentially competing with Mason, Bentaleb, Carroll, Alli, and the other multitudes of not-defensive CMs we have on the roster already, unless Pochettino trusts his defense enough to roll with a true Schneiderlin-esque double-pivot.

Also, did I mention this rumor is from the Sun? This rumor is totally from the Sun, and nobody more reputable is running with it at present. So I'm inclined to believe that this is probably bogus. But hey, it's a link to an actual central midfielder, and those have been in short supply today.