West Ham challenge made clear as £25m ace admits ‘Juventus and Roma want me’

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While Vladimir Coufal searches for a route back into the Premier League, his potential replacement at West Ham United has opted to go public with the interest shown in him by Serie A giants Juventus and Roma.

This is not the first time the two powerhouses of Italian football have gone eyeball-to-eyeball during the summer window either.

Juventus and Roma looked to have kicked off a bidding war earlier in June, with their pursuit of a new centre-back leading both clubs in the direction of Nayef Aguerd; West Ham United’s £30 million forgotten man.

Roma have cooled their interest in Aguerd since then. West Ham have Sunderland to blame for that, at least partly. Florent Ghisolfi was driving Roma’s chase for Aguerd’s signature but the highly-rated director is now leaving the Italian capital for Wearside.

Ghisolfi’s replacement, Frederic Massara, does not appear to share his admiration for Aguerd. It remains to be seen how former Milan chief Massara feels about Wesley Franca, though.

Flamengo’s two-time Brazil international has been mentioned as a potential long-term replacement for the aforementioned Vladimir Coufal at West Ham.

Wesley Franca this week used an interview with Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport to drop a less-than-subtle ‘come and get me plea’ to the giants of Serie A, however, with Juventus and Roma two of those to have come calling already.

West Ham United face Juventus and Roma battle for Wesley Franca

The diminutive Wesley was arguably the stand-out right-back in Brazil’s top flight in 2024.

‘Very attacking’ and ‘bullet fast’, to quote South American expert Tim Vickery, the Maranhao-born 21-year-old was mentioned as a Trent Alexander-Arnold successor at Liverpool too. That was before the Premier League champions snapped up Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen.

“My dream is to play in Europe at least once in my career,” the £25 million-rated Wesley explains, his cross-Atlantic ambitions as fierce as ever despite the Liverpool door closing.

“More experienced players like Jorginho, Danilo and Alex Sandro told me that going to Italy’s Serie A would be a great experience for my growth and an important step in my career.

“I know about the interest of Roma and Juventus.”

Wesley waiting for Club World Cup to finish as Vladimir Coufal eyes England return

Jorginho made his name as one of Europe’s premier playmakers at Napoli before going on to represent Chelsea and Arsenal. Fellow full-backs Danilo and Alex Sandro, meanwhile, donned the black and white of Juventus.

Wesley will not make any final decision on his future, however, until Flamengo’s involvement in the Club World Cup comes to an end. The Mengao are due to face Bayern Munich in the last-16 after finishing top of a group which also contained Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea.

“We are living the Club World Cup, which is being a wonderful experience. We want to go as far as possible,” Wesley adds. “We know very well what our priority is.

“Juve and Roma want me, but I will only think about that when the tournament is over.”

As for Vladimir Coufal, West Ham’s departing Czech defender is considering his options as he awaits offers from other clubs in England’s top flight.

Coufal confirmed that Fulham showed an interest back in January. A move to Craven Cottage could still be on the cards with Kenny Tete expected to leave Marco Silva’s outfit and head north with Everton.