According to a report from Corriere Torino (Friday October 2nd, page 16), Juventus ace Daniele Rugani would prefer a move to West Ham over Newcastle and Ligue 1 outfit Rennes.
In other news…Report: West Ham submit £12.5m bid for 47-capped international centre-back
Hammers boss David Moyes has allegedly been chasing Rugani, 26, for the past week or so.
West Ham have been heavily linked with a deal to sign the Juventus centre-back (Gianluca Di Marzio and ExWHUemployee).
The Hammers were favourites in the early stages with Di Marzio claiming they were the only club in ‘genuine negotiations’.
Di Marzio then claimed that Rennes had in fact taken the lead in the race for the seven-capped Italy international’s signature.
But there is some good news for the West Ham fans. Corriere Torino are reporting that Rugani would prefer a move to the Hammers over Rennes and Premier League rivals Newcastle.
Tutto Juve claims that the 26-year-old will cost around £23 million. And that could be very good value for West Ham.
Stats
Rugani made just 10 Serie A appearances for Juventus last season. In those outings, he averaged 0.8 tackles, 1.1 interceptions and 1.5 clearances per game. The 26-year-old also won an average of 3.2 aerial duals per match (Who Scored).
Standing at 6ft 3in tall, the seven-capped Italy international is very aerially dominant.
Rugani is a great reader of the game, and although he isn’t the quickest, his anticipation and positioning more than makes up for his lack of pace.
The Italian would be a great addition for us. £23 million is good value for Rugani, in spite of the current financial turmoil in the game caused by the global health crisis.
And the report claiming that the Juve ace wants to join us really is very good news.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
