Club already ‘working on’ deal to sign West Ham defender in January – Long-term target for director

Eintracht Frankfurt are already ‘working on’ a deal for West Ham United defender Thilo Kehrer to join them in the January transfer window.

That’s according to SportBILD, who say the defender is a long-term target for the clubs sporting director Markus Krösche.

The newspaper reports that the January window is set to be a busy one for the German side, who are planning additions to their squad, particularly in defence.

According to their information reinforcements are wanted and one of the potential deals they’re already ‘working on’ is to bring Kehrer in from West Ham.

The belief is that due to his flexibility the defender would ‘fit well’ into manager Dino Toppmöller’s squad, with him known for regularly changing the system that he employs.

Furthermore, the player knows the Bundesliga well as he came from Schalke’s youth system and played in the first team there from 2015 to 2018 before joining Paris Saint Germain.

He joined West Ham in 2022 and was initially a regular ‘but a slump followed’ and he now finds himself out of the first team and is no longer considered a key player. A change ‘would definitely make sense’ for him and West Ham.

It would also give Krösche the chance to secure a long-term target, having initially wanted him in 2021 when he was still in Paris.

At this point a loan deal would be ‘particularly obvious’ for Frankfurt as Kehrer has a deal until 2026 with West Ham, which includes the option of another two years, and ‘is probably making a lot of money’ in wages as well.

Thus, a permanent deal may be too expensive to work out at this point but the idea is there nonetheless.