The three Celtic stars West Ham are interested in signing for their bid to win promotion straight back to the Premier League can be revealed – but doing deals won’t be easy.
- Hammers News exclusive
It was inevitable West Ham would look at players plying their trade in Scotland as soon as Nils Koppen hired to head up transfers.
The Belgian spent 18 months at Celtic’s bitter rivals Rangers before a brief spell with Copenhagen and now he is heading up West Ham’s recruitment.
So it should be no real surprise Koppen is looking north of the border for talent to help Nuno Espirito Santo’s bid for the Championship title.
Celtic trio wanted by West Ham named
Yesterday Claret and Hugh claimed West Ham want three Celtic stars as part of their summer overhaul.
It was claimed a ‘source with excellent club connections’ revealed a mystery Celtic trio are Hammers targets – with one being Japanese.
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Now Hammers News can exclusively reveal the identities of the West Ham targets.
A leading transfer source with connections at the London Stadium revealed the names of the three top Bhoys the Hammers are eyeing.
The first is Koppen’s fellow Belgian Arne Engels – a player Hammers News revealed was of interest to West Ham in March last year.
Former West Ham assistant Billy Reid was full of praise for Engels at the time, saying he is the ‘one player’ in Scotland who will play at the ‘very top’.
Talented 22-year-old Engels would offer Nuno bags of versatility as he can play both right wing and right-back as well as in central midfield.
West Ham have also been linked with Celtic’s Japan forward Daizen Maeda in the past, as also reported on Hammers News last year.
Hatate not Maeda is West Ham target
The 28-year-old pressing machine would be some coup in the Championship given he is attracting interest from across Europe.
But Hammers News can reveal Maeda is NOT the Japanese player West Ham are eyeing.
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According to our transfer source, versatile Japan midfielder Reo Hatate is the man Koppen wants to bolster Nuno’s options following the departure of Mateus Fernandes.
Hatate fits the bill as a Fernandes replacement as he too is a dynamic, high-energy, box-to-box midfielder known for his incredible work rate, precise passing range, and fierce shooting from distance.
Hatate, who is in his peak years at 28, is primarily a central midfielder but can also play in attacking midfield and even at left-back.
Like with most Japanese players, he boasts exceptional technical ability with exceptional spatial awareness and tactical intelligence.
The third Celtic player West Ham have on their list of targets is DR Congo forward Michel-Ange Balikwisha.
Born in Belgium, Balikwisha was a youth international for Koppen’s homeland before switching to Congo, where he is teammates with Hammers right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Ex Belgian youth forward Balikwisha on Hammers list
The 25-year-old joined Celtic last year from Antwerp and scored a penalty in the shootout that saw DR Congo progress to the Intercontinental play-offs for World Cup qualification.
Balikwisha has an inauspicious debut season with Celtic, failing to find the net from 14 appearances.
But he is a player Koppen clearly feels has potential.
Signing the Celtic stars will not be easy, though.
The Bhoys are in a strong position to keep all three given they have Champions League football.
West Ham’s big lure is London and the ambition of their project under new majority owner, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who has made automatic promotion back to the Premier League the club’s number one focus.
The Hammers are also able to offer vastly superior wages to those on offer at Celtic, despite relegation to the second tier.
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