West Ham United ready another bid to sign Hans Vanaken, growing feeling he wants move – Dharmesh Sheth
West Ham are readying a new bid for Club Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken after their opening offer was rejected, according to Dharmesh Sheth.
The Sky Sports News journalist reported via his personal Twitter account on Tuesday morning (16 August) that West Ham’s first offer for the 29-year-old Belgium international was £8.4million.
It is understood that the Irons are expected to bid again for Vanaken and that there’s a “growing feeling player wants to go”.
Don’t go too high
Vanaken will turn 30 next week and he’s never played professionally outside of Belgium so we feel as though any kind of big-money move for him will be a massive risk.
Vanaken is a club legend for Club Brugge.
He’s played 342 times for them since joining them in 2015, winning five Belgian First Division titles in the process – including the most-recent 2021/22 crown – and four Belgian Super Cups.
On a personal level, Vanaken has won the Belgian Professional Football of the Year award twice and he’s also won the Belgian Golden Shoe two times.
He definitely seems too good for that league.
However, it does raise a question as to why he’s never left.
Vanaken is a Belgium international, playing 13 times for them in both 2021 and 2022, scoring five goals in the process including one against the Republic of Ireland back in March.
West Ham do need to add to their attacking options before the transfer window closes – in fact, they need a lot of new signings in order to improve upon last season’s performance.
We don’t see Vanaken as someone who’ll do any more than add some depth for David Moyes.