Fabrizio Romano: West Ham United exchange documents overnight to get rid of Thilo Kehrer – ‘Here we go’
West Ham and Monaco have finalised a deal for defender Thilo Kehrer to move to Ligue 1 on an initial loan with an obligation to buy, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Writing on his personal Twitter account (4 January), the reliable transfer journalist reports that an agreement was reached overnight with documents exchanged.
Monaco will pay an initial £433,000 loan fee to take him for the rest of the season, before an obligation to buy worth €11m (£9.4m) becomes active in the summer with a medical set to take place today.
“Thilo Kehrer to AS Monaco, here we go!” he wrote.
“Deal now agreed as club exchanged documents overnight. Kehrer will travel for medical later today.
“Understand it’s loan deal worth €500k fee with buy clause to become mandatory for €11m. All details are now approved by West Ham.”
Boom
It’s been coming and it was expected after his limited game time this season, but it’s a shame to see Kehrer leave the club so soon after arriving.
When he joined from Paris Saint-Germain last season he made a good impact playing across the back four and seemed to be a great investment for the future as he was preparing to enter his prime years.
But with Vladimir Coufal rediscovering his best form he found himself struggling for minutes and like the true professional he is, he wants to play more regularly rather than sit on the bench earning money for nothing.
With Ben Johnson and Coufal at the club still to deputise at full-back and four solid options for central defence the club don’t necessarily need to sign a replacement for him this month, although injuries could see us left short now.
He’ll always be remembered for being part of the Europa Conference League winning squad, but it feels like the right time for all parties to separate now and the Hammers have got themselves a good deal.
In other West Ham news, triple transfer swoop eyed as three more first-team players likely to leave in January.