West Ham United will have to pay at least €12m if they wish to sign Gonzalo Montiel from River Plate this summer.
That’s according to Marca, who say the Argentine club are open to selling the 23-year-old but only for the right price.
The newspaper explains that, like numerous clubs across the world, River’s finances will be ‘greatly affected’ by the Coronavirus outbreak.
They need to sell off some players to Europe to avoid any financial difficulties, and one of their main targets to move on is Montiel.
He has been courted by numerous teams for several months now, with West Ham among suitors from the Italy, Spain and Germany.
The Hammers were keen all the way back in January and even attempted to sign him, something his agent recently confirmed, but saw their efforts rebuffed because River didn’t want to lose him at that point in the campaign.
He’s continued to develop under Marcelo Gallardo and is now widely considered one of the stars of the future for Argentina.
That makes him an attractive player and Marca say River do not intend to drop their asking price beneath €12m, without taxes, before sanctioning any potential sale.
They are aware that the offers that may come from Europe may not be ‘too tempting’ due to the ‘world economic situation’ but are refusing to offer too big a discount on a player they know they can make a tidy profit on this summer.
The question now is whether West Ham are willing to pay such a price.
There’s no doubting they need a right-back, it’s something of a problem position for them, and Montiel is undoubtedly a player they’re keen on.
€12m is not all that great of a price to pay for a player who’s clearly highly rated, although if River are desperate for cash, they would do well to try and negotiate it down.
