Vladimir Coufal exposes question he asked upon West Ham United approach
Vladimir Coufal has been one of the mainstays of the West Ham United squad ever since he joined the club but he did have questions beforehand.
The Czech Republic international joined from Slavia Prague in a deal worth £5.4million in 2020 after being convinced by international teammate Tomas Soucek who was already at the London Stadium.
The 30-year-old has now revealed what he was thinking as the move materialised amid interest from Southampton and Brighton at the same time.
“West Ham was the only one left,” he said to Bezfrazi. “The club didn’t communicate much, and it didn’t look like any serious offer would arrive from them.
“All I knew was hearsay, speculation. Tomáš Souček was already in London, texting me from time to time about what people inside talked about. But were they even serious?
“When an excited agent, Karol Kisel, called me a few days before the qualification for Champions League against Midtjylland to tell me that West Ham had sent an offer to Slavia for 5 million pounds, I was hopeless.”
Bargain
If West Ham were to know that just over £5million would get them a solid right-back that would start the majority of games for the next three seasons back in 2020, they would have snapped your hand off there and then.
Coufal has not been the world’s greatest defender during his time at the London Stadium by any stretch of the imagination but he has been a consistent presence that David Moyes has been able to rely on.
It’s often the unspectacular players that earn cult hero statues and while the Czech is still some way off that with West Ham fans, he certainly could make it there if he keeps his performances to a high standard for the next two or three years,
His only problem could be the emergence of homegrown youngster Ben Johnson who has filled in at centre-half so far this season but could really challenge Coufal at right-back over the course of the 2022-23 campaign.