West Ham are ready to use Andriy Yarmolenko’s wages to seal a deal for the next David Moyes target Filip Kostic.
A host of sources have been claiming West Ham are closing in on agreeing a deal and terms with Eintracht Frankfurt star Kostic.
The likes of Fabrizio Romano claim the Hammers are pushing hard to get the move done.
The Hammers know all about the Serbian assist king’s talents having faced Kostic in the Europa League.
Kostic is represented by Italian agent Alessandro Lucci, the same man who looks after imminent West Ham striker signing Gianluca Scamacca.
Sources close to Lucci claimed there was a ‘real possibility’ Kostic will join West Ham.
But yesterday German football expert Uli Koehler claimed West Ham have very little chance of signing the 29-year-old because he wants to win trophies and play in the Champions League.
Koehler (pictured above) did however state: “So I think the chances are not very high (for West Ham to sign Kostic) but you know in the business at the end money counts and if West Ham has enough money then maybe there is a chance, even for Filip Kostic.”
Well now it seems money may well be the deciding factor.
There are an increasing number of reports claiming that the Hammers are intensifying talks to sign Kostic now the Scamacca deal is done and dusted.
And West Ham are ready to use departed Yarmolenko’s wages to seal a deal for the next Moyes target Kostic claims a new report.
West Ham ready to use Andriy Yarmolenko’s wages to seal deal for next David Moyes target Filip Kostic claims report
Kostic allegedly earns around £43k per week at Eintracht.
And Planet Sport claims the money West Ham freed up by releasing one of their top ever earners Yarmolenko will now be used to more than double Kostic’s wages.
Planet Sport states Yarmolenko was on “around £100k per week” – in actual fact the Ukraine winger was on £115k per week for four years at West Ham – a total of £22m in wages during his time in east London.
“Kostic’s agent also represents West Ham’s expected new signing Gianluca Scamacca and it is believed he has remained in London to thrash out a deal with West Ham chiefs,” Planet Sport states.
“The potential £15million move to the London Stadium is still yet to be agreed by the two clubs, but West Ham are confident that will not be a major hurdle.”
It would make Kostic one of West Ham’s top earners. Whether that will be enough to lure the Serbian to the London Stadium remains to be seen. But if he can maintain his ridiculous assist statistics in England then he would be worth every penny.
German expert Koehler did suggest money could – and perhaps would – be the deciding factor, as is so often the case in modern football.
We must not forget that West Ham can also offer Kostic two things Frankfurt cannot: 1) his last opportunity to play in the best league in the world and 2) the chance to live in London.
As reported by us at Hammers News via our source at rivals Spurs, Antonio Conte has always remained interested in Kostic despite signing Ivan Perisic.
But the Italian was led to believe Kostic would be signing a new deal at Eintracht when he enquired earlier this summer.
Let’s hope West Ham can get this one over the line because it really would be some signing for the next few years.
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