West Ham ready bargain Maxence Caqueret transfer after wage reveal
West Ham are one of several Premier League clubs keen on signing Maxence Caqueret from Lyon this month, according to GiveMeSport.
It was reported on 31 December that the Hammers, as well as Tottenham, Everton and Crystal Palace, are eyeing up a move for the midfielder with Lyon currently in desperate need of cash.
Lyon face a transfer ban and provisional relegation from Ligue 1 due to their precarious finances, opening the door for the Irons to bring Caqueret, who earns £54,000-a-week, to East London for a cut-price fee.
Maxence Caqueret to sign for West Ham?
The Hammers are hardly short of numbers in midfield heading into the January window, but as one of the positions which they didn’t spend much on in the summer, an upgrade in quality is certainly needed.
Tim Steidten and Julen Lopetegui did bring in Guido Rodriguez and Carlos Soler from Real Betis and PSG respectively, albeit Rodriguez moved on a free transfer and Soler is on a season-long loan.
Rodriguez – signed at Lopetegui’s behest this summer – eventually lost his place in the side after looking off the pace at Premier League level, while Soler doesn’t have a permanent transfer clause in his deal.
As a result, and with Lyon needing to bring in funds quickly, the prospect of signing Caqueret this month would grant Lopetegui another option in the engine room, and potentially for less than his market value.
The Irons’ position is precarious in terms of PSR – hence Jean-Clair Todibo’s impending permanent move from Nice being backdated [Sean Whetstone, 11 August] – but they’ll be confident of competing with the other sides interested in Caqueret.
In other West Ham news, Stuart Pearce was taken aback by the Irons’ defending against Liverpool last time out in a new verdict.
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