West Ham target dubbed ‘England’s Thiago Silva’ left incensed by deliberate taunting tactic

Charlie Cresswell proved he has the fight for a West Ham relegation battle following heated scenes in Toulouse’s 3-0 defeat to Lens.

The 23-year-old, who has long-standing interest from the Irons, has played the joint amount of minutes of any Ligue 1 player this season.

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The England U21 winner has been ever-present for all 17 of Le Téfécé’s top-flight games this term, with three goals and an assist as well.

His form has helped lift Toulouse to eighth, just one point behind Strasbourg prior to Liam Rosenior’s move to become Chelsea boss.

Cresswell, who could follow his English compatriot to London at West Ham, ironically was on the receiving end of the same scoreline as Nuno Espirito Santo’s men away to Wolves last weekend.

The defender endured one of his toughest tests of the campaign in a chastening 3-0 defeat to Ligue 1 leaders Lens on Friday.

Toulouse, who were on a three-match winning streak across all competitions, saw striker Emerson sent off in the 22nd minute.

Cresswell helped the hosts get into half-time with their clean sheet intact, but made himself a target for getting under the visitors’ skin.

Wesley Said broke the deadlock just shy of the hour mark, with Lens players then converging on the Preston-born centre-back.

European football expert Andy Brassell explained during an exclusive interview with talkSPORT.com: “Cresswell has obviously been linked with a lot of potential moves to Premier League clubs. He’s done pretty well for Toulouse this season.

“It was a tough old night for him on Friday night because they lost 3-0 at home to Lens.

“In the second half, when Said scores for Lens, Florian Thauvin, who’s enjoying a bit of an Indian summer in his career, goes past Charlie Cresswell, pulls a face and sticks his tongue out.

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“And Cresswell’s absolutely incensed by this, gets quite angry, gets a yellow card, and Lens end up winning 3-0.

“It was interesting hearing Thauvin talk about it afterwards. Now, he’s quite a divisive character anyway.

“But he said afterwards that it was a planned pulling of Charlie Cresswell’s chain; it worked.

“It was quite cynical, really. It wasn’t really a little bit of baiting in the moment, which is often the case in football.

“But it was a real, planned and cynically executed plan by Lens to get under Charlie Cresswell’s skin.

“It sort of proves that even though it’s unlikely that they close it out and become champions, they’ve got that swagger of league leaders.”

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Lens players pre-planned Cresswell taunt

Explaining what happened post-match, Adrien Thomasson said: “Cresswell was taunting us for almost the entire first half.

“We agreed at halftime that after we scored our first goal, we should go and have a word with him, and Thauvin took care of that.

“He kind of sacrificed himself for us. I’m proud of him; he remained very calm despite the push and the taunting from the Toulouse player.

“That’s what experience is all about, knowing when to tease while staying calm.”

Cresswell, meanwhile, who has previously been likened to Thiago Silva by Brassell, remains linked with a possible return to England.

The Leeds academy product, who was previously wanted by Liverpool and Manchester United, made the move to join Toulouse in July 2024.