West Ham have reportedly reached a ‘verbal agreement’ to land their third signing of the window — and the fee is simply staggering.
The Hammers spent the first six weeks of the summer transfer window with a watching brief.
West Ham insisted they had to sell to buy, citing last summer’s £155m splurge coupled with woeful underperformance on and off the pitch over the last 18 months as a potential PSR issue in the making.
The £54.5m sale of Mohammed Kudus has changed the landscape for Hammers boss Graham Potter, though.
Potter broke his West Ham transfer duck with his first permanent signing in the shape of flying full-back El Hadji Malick Diouf from Slavia Prague for an initial £19m.
That was quickly followed up by the savvy free transfer capture of another full-back, Kyle Walker-Peters.
West Ham window well and truly up and running
After the release of ageing duo Aaron Cresswell and Vladimir Coufal, the moves put West Ham into an excellent position in terms of full-backs for years to come.
West Ham have reportedly already moved on to locking in their next signings.
Potter is said to want a new goalkeeper, a centre-back, at least two midfielders and at least one striker.
There has been a major hint a top new goalkeeper could be West Ham-bound.
Reports claim talks are ongoing regarding several midfielders including Liverpool duo Harvey Elliott and Tyler Morton.
Jack Grealish and Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes are also in the club’s sights.
But in a surprising twist overnight, it’s been claimed Potter has made yet another move to strengthen the Hammers’ rearguard.
Because West Ham have reached a ‘verbal agreement’ on a third signing for a fee that’s too good to be true.
In what could be an astonishingly cheap bargain, the deal could prove to be one of the smartest of the summer.
Reports emerged back in May claiming that Albian Hajdari had caught the eye of Potter and head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay.
West Ham reach ‘verbal agreement’ on star for shock fee
The Switzerland Under-21 international and FC Lugano centre-back has been on the radar of Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen, as reported Sky Germany previously, with talks having taken place.
West Ham were actually linked with versatile Hajdari last year but nothing ever came of the speculation.
Sebastian Pelzer, FC Lugano’s sporting director, has already conceded Hajdari – a former Juventus youth prospect – has probably played his last game for the Swiss Super League outfit.
“It’s no secret that Hajdari will probably be sold,” Pelzer told Blue Win.
Now Fussball Transfers has claimed West Ham have agreed a deal in principle to sign the 6ft 3in 22-year-old.
And the fee, it is claimed, is a staggeringly low £4.3m due to Hajdari’s release clause.
The report states that while a deal has been ‘verbally agreed’ West Ham have not made it official with a firm offer as yet.
It goes on to claim Leverkusen and Werder Bremen have already accepted they are about to miss out to West Ham for Hajdari.
Who is Albian Hajdari and what will he bring to West Ham?
The Swiss is an all-action and highly versatile young defender who can play centre-back and full-back – but more often the former.
When covering at full-back he does so on the left but has been known to operate as a defensive midfielder on occasions too.
However, it is one thing slotting into midfield in the Swiss league or at international youth level and another matter entirely in the Premier League, so West Ham fans should not expect to see him become the new Declan Rice.
Hajdari will be a big hit with Hammers fans as he is not afraid to get stuck in. His yellow card record suggests his timing could do with some improvement, though, as he picked up 15 cautions last season.
The centre-back clearly has pedigree having spent three years at Juventus between 2000 and 2003 – although he never made a Serie A appearance for the Italian giants.
Comparisons have been drawn between Hajdari and Dean Huijsen, the new Real Madrid centre-half who left Juve in pursuit of first-team football and developed so rapidly at Bournemouth he finds himself a £50m player at the Bernabeu one year on.
Potter has made it clear he wants to bring in players he can develop and who will have future resale value.
Hajdari certainly has the potential. And at a reported £4.3m – it’s the biggest no-brainer of the summer.
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