Corinthians board reach £21.5m Yuri Alberto agreement after West Ham United transfer bid
Corinthians’ board have agreed they will sell Yuri Alberto to West Ham United if the London club offers £21.5million for the forward, according to UOL.
The Brazilian news outlet reported on Tuesday (29 August) that West Ham’s bid for Alberto, 22, currently stands at £17.1million. However, it is understood that Corinthians only 50 per cent of the striker’s “economic rights” with former club Zenit St Petersburg owning the rest.
It is understood that due to this, Corinthians want a higher fee for Alberto because they’ll only receive half of what the Irons offer up.
Messy business
Football is a weird and wonderful place outside of the UK, where stuff like this doesn’t really happen.
Alberto joined Zenit from Brazilian side Internacional in January 2022, signing a five-year contract.
However, as Russia invaded Ukraine, a lot of players left the former Soviet state and Alberto was among them as he joined Corinthians in June 2022 on an initial loan basis.
He played 15 times for Zenit, scored six goals and supplied four assists. There’s no denying that’s an impressive record.
However, things haven’t gone so swimmingly for the one-time Brazil international with Corinthians because in the current 2023 season, he’s scored just 10 times in 45 appearances across all competitions.
Nonetheless, Alberto proved himself in a brief spell in European football, has had good scoring spells elsewhere in Brazil, is capped by his nation and is only young at the age of 22.
He could be a very exciting signing for West Ham but it could also be a bit of a risk considering the money that is being demanded for him.
In other West Ham news, a club in Saudi Arabia is trying to sign Pablo Fornals.