Here at SportWitness, we’re accustomed to the English media inflating transfer prices to a wild extent, and this week it’s West Ham’s turn to suffer from it.
Reports have claimed that they are interested in Stuttgart defender Konstantinos Mavropanos, who the Hammers are reportedly looking at as they aim to bolster their squad in the summer.
A €25m asking price was quoted for the defender, who is currently on loan from Arsenal but could be signed on a permanent basis and then sold on by Schalke.
Kicker cover those reports today and explain that Mavropanos would be more than keen on the deal as he’s never hidden his desire to play in England.
They are ‘ready to invest’ €25m to secure his signature, which would be a major bonus for the Germans, who can sign him on a permanent basis from Arsenal for €3m this summer.
Except, we find that €25m figure a little bit hard to believe given what has been said in Germany over the last few months.
While it has been reported that it could take €30m to sign him – at that point, it was Newcastle who were being linked – that then fell down to €12.5m at the beginning of March.
Heidenheimer Zeitung explained that while Stuttgart do value Mavropanos at €25m, they would actually only look for €12.5m if they were relegated or in ‘urgent need’ of money.
That was followed by a report from Kicker that stated Mavropanos’ value was plummeting after a series of disappointing performances and a ‘personal saga’ for the player.
In other words, there’s very little chance West Ham would be paying €25m for him. That is the top end valuation Stuttgart have put on the player, but given his performances in recent months and their potential need for money, it’s a figure they’re unlikely to keep looking for.
Mavropanos’ value is more likely somewhere in between.
