West Ham United prepared to table £17.3m bid for AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw
West Ham are ready to pay €20million (£17.3m) for AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw in the January transfer window, according to Calciomercato.
In a report written by Daniele Longo for the Italian outlet on Monday (16 October), it is claimed that West Ham are prepared to follow up their initial interest with a concrete offer.
However, Longo adds that Thiaw feels at home in Milan and does not intend to leave San Siro for at least another couple of years.
It is claimed that the Rossoneri are now looking to offer the centre-back a new contract that will see his current salary tripled.
Move on
The initial links with Thiaw last week got supporters excited, and it is clear that United clearly like the look of the Germany international if they are willing to offer a fairly large amount.
But this latest report suggests that the player has no intention of quitting Milan, while the club are also eager to tie him down to a new contract.
It all points towards this move being off the cards before the speculation has truly started to get going, unless something pretty dramatic happens behind the scenes.
Thiaw is a very talented defender, but there are plenty of other options out there for the Hammers to target.
What is interesting is the number of centre-backs being touted as possible targets, which suggests the club expect either Nayef Aguerd or Kurt Zouma to possibly move on.
Let’s just hope the club can line up a target who is both affordable and willing to make the switch, which Thiaw clearly isn’t.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have reportedly been informed that one of their summer targets is available for a seven-figure fee in January.