West Ham United could be given the chance to sign defender Konstantinos Mavropanos for €12.5m in the summer, should Stuttgart be relegated from the Bundesliga.
That’s according to Heidenheimer Zeitung, who say Stuttgart would look to sell to raise funds were they to go back down to the 2.Bundesliga.
Mavropanos is currently on loan with the German side from Arsenal, having initially joined them last season and extended that into this year.
He’s been a key player for them in both campaigns, and they do have an option to make the move permanent come the summer.
As the newspaper explains, Sven Mislintat negotiated a deal in which Stuttgart have a purchase obligation should they stay in the Bundesliga and a purchase clause should they be relegated.
If they stay up, they value the defender at around €25m but should they be relegated, then the defender ‘could be sold for half that amount’ if Stuttgart are in ‘urgent need’ of money.
That should be interesting to West Ham, who were named as one of the ‘interested parties’ by BILD back in December.
At the time, they were on the hunt for a replacement for the injured Angelo Ogbonna but didn’t end up signing anyone in January.
David Moyes side are likely to remain in the hunt for an extra man in the summer, particularly if they qualify for Europe again, and Mavropanos could be a cheap option to do so.
The defender will obviously have his say, but he has made it clear he would like another stint in the Premier League after his time with Arsenal, which would suggest West Ham have got a good chance of getting their man.
Of course this all depends on whether Stuttgart can avoid relegation, but that is something to keep an eye on if Mavropanos’ asking price falls as significantly as Heidenheimer Zeitung say it will.
