West Ham United enter talks to sign Hertha Berlin midfielder Santiago Ascacibar
West Ham United are leading the way in the race to sign Santiago Ascacibar from Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin, according to Adriano Savalli.
The 23-year-old defensive midfielder only joined Hertha in the German capital in 2020 but has already made 46 appearances for the club and has now attracted the interest of the Irons as well as clubs from Spain and Italy.
But it is West Ham who hold the early advantage as the club have already begun formal talks with the Bundesliga side over a transfer fee for the Argentinian international.
Hertha Berlin are likely to demand a fee of £10million to allow Ascacibar to leave the club this summer and they are expecting to receive the Hammers’ first offer fairly soon.
He would be West Ham United’s fourth summer signing should he sign on the dotted line after Flynn Downes became the third new addition on Thursday (7 July).
Bulldog
David Moyes knows exactly what he wants from his central midfielders and he’s gone and found another player in the same kind of mould to complete his quartet in the engine room.
Ascacibar is another combative type who will get stuck into any challenge that comes his way and it’s that bulldog-like spirit that will have attracted the Scot to his services.
He isn’t all fight and no flair though; being Argentinian, he will have that delicate touch to go with the tough-tackling and roughhouse nature of his game that makes him as close to a complete midfielder as you can get.
£10million is almost a steal for such a player in the modern transfer market and he could be the perfect understudy to Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek with neither certain to stay beyond the end of the 2022-23 campaign.
This move shouldn’t make much of a dent in our summer budget and it is a position we need to strengthen so there seems to be no reason why we wouldn’t make this move but let’s wait and see.