A couple of days ago we covered claims from Germany that West Ham remained one of the clubs still interested in FC Koln’s Anthony Modeste. SportBild reported West Ham would have to pay between €30m and €40m to get a transfer through.
Now, after a bit of passing the story between England and Germany, West Brom, Stoke City and Burnley have been added to the list of interested clubs. Some of the claims seem to date back a year, or more, and on Thursday German newspaper Bild make the interest sound more serious than it probably is.
The interest of West Brom, Stoke City, Burnley and West Ham is said to be causing ‘alarm’ at FC Koln. There’s also interest from China, of course, and this leads Bild to reiterate the price of €30m to €40m.
Bild believe that figure ‘is not a problem’ for the clubs mentioned, and whilst technically that may be true it’s still probably considered too high.
This is Modeste’s best scoring season by far with 23 goals. That’s an impressive Bundesliga return, but it’s the player’s age which makes paying €40m unattractive.
Modeste is 29, he’d be 30 before the end of his first season in England. There’d be little sell-on value, and for clubs like West Brom, Stoke and Burnley, that’s certainly a consideration when committing such a big amount of money.
Even at the lower €30m figure, it would still be prohibitive, especially with Bild hinting Modeste wants big wages.
China it is then.
