da apostebet： Speaking to SportNet, a source close to Sparta Prague defender David Hancko has refused to rule out a possible move to West Ham United – citing he is ‘ready’ for the European top divisions.
The Lowdown: West Ham eye new defenders in January…
da wazamba： As previously reported, the likes of James Tarkowksi, Nathan Ake and Nathaniel Phillips were targets for West Ham last month but manager David Moyes eventually couldn’t get a new defender through the door.
The Hammers also held lengthy talks over signing Marseille defender Duje Caleta-Car in the last week of the month but, ultimately, failed to reach an agreement.
As a result, Moyes is left with just three senior options in the middle of his defence with Angelo Ogbonna out for the rest of the campaign.
The Latest: Hancko agent makes claim…
Speaking to SportNet, a source close to Sparta defender Hancko, his agent Michael Holescak, has refused to rule out the possibility of his client joining West Ham due to the connection through Daniel Kretinsky.
“The connection between Sparta and West Ham is obvious,” Holesczak says when asked about the possibility of Hancko joining the club.
“So something like that wouldn’t be a big surprise. Anyway, Hancko is currently ready for any of the top five European leagues.”
The Verdict: Get it done?
The 6 foot 2 powerhouse would be a fairly straight forward move to negotiate given minority West Ham shareholder Kretinsky is also the co-chairman of Sparta.
His connections would, arguably, make this an easy move to facilitate as the Hammers’ Czech connections continue to grow.
In terms of quality, Hancko is highly versatile, able to play both left-back and as a central defender – not to mention his estimated market value is only around £3.6m (Transfermarkt).
The Slovakia international, amassing just under 20 caps, may be one to consider for the summer.
In other news: Insider: West Ham target ‘let down’ after club fail to green-light his move to Rush Green, find out more here