West Ham United ahead of Southampton and Crystal Palace in race to sign Juventus defender Koni De Winter
West Ham United have the lead over Southampton and Crystal Palace in the race to sign on loan Juventus centre-back Koni De Winter, according to Tutto Juve.
De Winter is currently undergoing an impressive loan spell at Italian club Empoli, proving to be a useful first-team player, going on to feature 14 times so far this season which has caught the eye of a number of teams around Europe.
The Hammers have long been linked with the highly-rated 20-year-old centre-back with TuttoJuve back on 23 March revealing the East Londoners’ interest and that “the doors could open to a definitive sale” if he fails to impress Max Allegri in the preseason for Juventus.
West Ham United have been interested in him since January and according to Italian outlet TuttoJuve [11 April], they are still keen on signing the defender this summer, with Calcio Mercato [8 April] claiming that the Juventus wonderkid is worth £13.3m in today’s market.
Crystal Palace and Southampton’s interest in the De Winter have reportedly “slowed down” and the Hammers have the lead in the race to sign the Belgian centre-back.
Clear line of sight
Winter has made 14 appearances in the Series A side so far, and he gives the impression of a cracking young talent.
With West Ham United set to undergo a huge summer rebuild, acquiring young talents to help develop and nurture them seems the ideal way to go for the East Londoners to build a new and attractive team after this season’s struggles in the Premier League.
And with a report emerging that rivals Crystal Palace and Southampton have slowed down their interest in the talented centre-back, that may well hand West Ham United a clear line of sight in their attempts to acquire his promising services.
The Irons have endured their fair share of injury and fitness issues at centre-back with all of Nayef Aguerd, Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma all suffering periods on the treatment table this season, which means the club are certainly likely to add to their defensive options this summer.
Providing De Winter fails to convince The Old Lady during pre-season, the Hammers should definitely consider De Winter’s signature as he could well become a leading defender for the club in the future.
However, as should be the case for most of their summer targets, their status in the English top flight for next season is of paramount importance.