West Ham United agree £21.5m deal to sign Zenit defender Robert Renan, set for loan to Corinthians first
West Ham have agreed a £21.5m deal with Zenit to sign defender Robert Renan but he will first join Corinthians on loan, according to UOL.
Writing on their website (12 December), the Brazilian news outlet report the Russian club have agreed a deal to sell the defender to the Hammers, but are currently negotiating a loan deal to send him to Corinthians first.
The Brazilian club want to be able to count on him for the entirety of the 2024 season, while West Ham want him to join in the summer so talks continue between the three parties.
“The column found that Zenit agreed to sell Robert Renan to the English club for 25 million euros (£21.5m),” they wrote.
“Corinthians and the Russians are still discussing whether the loan will be for one year or six months. The São Paulo club only accepts the deal if it can count on the defender until the end of 2024.”
Interesting
West Ham are clearly looking closely at the Brazilian market right now, because they did a similar deal not long ago to sign another young defender in Luizao.
Renan is highly though of in Brazil and has played well for Zenit, but political issues mean they can’t take money directly from Europe right now and that means a loan deal to Brazil makes more sense to buy them time right now.
He would also likely play more regularly there than if he came straight to the London Stadium, but it would be a clever way for West Ham to secure his services ahead of other interested parties.
Central defence is seen as a bit of a problem position and Tim Steidten has always been good at identifying talent and getting deals done early, so this could be shrewd.
£21.5m is a big chunk of the budget though and with first-team areas needing strengthening immediately in January, hopefully this deal won’t prevent any business being done.
In other West Ham news, £15m man to be benched in predicted XI v Freiburg.