Claret and Hugh shares West Ham United plans to replace ‘unhappy’ Vladimir Coufal in January
West Ham may be looking to sign a new right-back in the January transfer window following the situation involving Vladimir Coufal, according to Claret and Hugh.
The Hammers insider reported on its website on Sunday (7 January) that the Czech Republic international is “unhappy” at the London Stadium after he wasn’t handed “vastly improved” terms on his contract, having recently being given a one-year extension on his deal.
It added that the 31-year-old’s age may have been considered as a reason why he wasn’t handed a better deal after seeing just “marginal improvements” made on his previous contract.
Difficult
This is a difficult situation for West Ham to manage as they are going to be cautious about handing Coufal a long-term deal due to his age.
But after the Daily Mirror reported on 2 January that the right-back is only on £35,000-a-week, it’s understandable to see why he’s frustrated at the London Stadium.
While that is a sizeable amount of money for anyone to be earning, it isn’t very much for a regular starter in the Premier League and he’ll know some of his teammates are probably on at least three times that figure.
With the commitment the Czech has shown during his time in East London and the influence he has had on turning around our fortunes, the club should really offer him a bit more money, even if he isn’t given a longer contract.
There is no doubt that we should be looking to sign a younger player who can eventually take over the role from Coufal, but the last thing we want is a senior player to be unhappy because he feels under appreciated.
In other West Ham news, one player wants to leave the Hammers amid a £30million development.