West Ham’s interest in River Plate fullback Gonzalo Montiel has been widely reported in Argentina for the past few months.
In January, the Hammers have made an attempt to sign the player on a loan deal with an option to buy him at the end of the season. But that offer was turned down by the Buenos Aires side.
When confirming the bid last week, Montiel’s agent Marcelo Carracedo wasn’t so sure about a second try. He claimed he ‘doesn’t think’ the Premier League side would come again.
But it seems the representative has changed his mind very fast, because now, he says the Hammers may actually be still interested in getting Montiel.
Speaking to Radio La Red, he said (via TNT): “There are several teams that have called and are interested in Montiel. West Ham already sent an offer in January and I think they’ll also make one in this market. And on the Italian side an offer could also come”.
The agent has also claimed it’s unlikely for clubs to trigger Montiel’s release clause this summer, so they should end up negotiating a fee with River Plate.
“It’s still an early phase of the market. The leagues are starting and it depends on how they end, if they qualify for the cups or not. Clearly, now paying US$20 million is impossible. The player is worth what they pay. When they ask me what he costs, I tell them that the clause is this. Tell me how much you want to pay you and we negotiate with River”.
“Before the pandemic there was talk of 10 or 12 million euros, but I think that number will be difficult. If the pandemic hadn’t happened, I would say there was a 80% or 90% chance he’d leave in this window. Something important was going to appear. In this scenario, I think that an offer will appear, but I don’t know if it’ll be the amount that River expect.”
