After another weekend which raised more questions than answers about West Ham United’s backline, a familiar name is once again being placed alongside the Premier League strugglers in the European gossip columns.
A target for Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain two years ago – as confirmed by his agent – and most recently on Atletico Madrid’s wishlist, that David Hancko remains a Feyenoord player to this day means the door stands somewhat ajar for West Ham United to make their move.
And, chances are, the Slovakia southpaw is more attainable and affordable now than before.
Hancko’s camp talked up a potential move to West Ham back in 2022. The ‘connection’ between Sparta Prague and The Hammers was very well documented at the time, of course, with both Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek making the switch from the Czech capital to the English one.
West Ham then considered Hancko before his move to Feyenoord, on the advice of Czech co-owner David Kretinsky. The feeling was that Hancko was maybe not quite ready for the Premier League.
Now, after three highly-successful seasons at Feyenoord, a chance in one of Europe’s major leagues seems overdue for the left-footed 27-year-old central defender.
West Ham United back in the race for Feyenoord’s David Hancko
According to Dutch publication Voetbal International, Atletico Madrid are once again leading the queue. Feyenoord rejected a bid from Diego Simeone’s side last summer, when Hancko was valued at around £35 million.
The report does not make clear how much Feyenoord want these days. The 2023 Eredivisie champions are still demanding a ‘mega transfer fee’, however. One well in excess of the lowball £13 million Atleti bid which the Rotterdam giants laughed off a year ago.
And here is where West Ham come in.
Voetbal International claim that ‘concrete interest’ from the Premier League remains, with both The Hammers and local rivals Chelsea planning to sit opposite Atletico in a crowded table.
Whether West Ham can compete with Atletico and Chelsea – let alone deep-pocketed Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Nassr – remains to be seen.
Interestingly, Al-Nassr are keen on Mohammed Kudus too, with West Ham inserting a £125 million release clause in his contract for Saudi clubs.
Liverpool rejected Arne Slot – David Hancko reunion
Labelled ‘world-class’ by Eredivisie analyst Diederik de Groot on X, Hancko has made no secret of his desire to reunite with former boss Arne Slot at Anfield.
However, after holding talks with the Premier League champions during Slot’s first summer in the Liverpool dugout, it quickly became clear that this was not an opportunity The Reds planned to take up.
“I was in contact with the coach, but he told me straight away that it was not possible,” Hancko said. “Liverpool has a certain transfer philosophy. Age was one issue, the other was the price. Both factors came out negative for me.”
De Kuip director Dennis te Kloese – his Feyenoord are eyeing West Ham benchwarmer Luis Guilherme in the meantime – is confident in his team’s ability to move on from Hancko when the time comes.
“I think it is very understandable that there was interest in Hancko last summer, and now too,” Te Kloese told RTV Rijnmond a few months ago. “He is a fantastic player.
“The fact that there is a lot of talk about players and there is interest, that means that we are going in the right direction. I think that we have shown that, if someone leaves, we can replace them in a good and responsible way.”
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