West Ham United are battling it out with AS Monaco to sign OH Leuven’s Ezechiel Banzuzi in the winter market.
That’s according to Voetbal International, who say West Ham are ‘still trying to hijack’ the deal from the Ligue 1 side.
The attacking midfielder’s agent has met with Monaco and the two parties have reached an agreement over personal terms.
Monaco have to agree a deal with the Belgian club and VI claim they will meet Leuven on Tuesday to offer a fee of around €13m including bonuses.
Adi Hütter’s side are in the driving seat but ‘fear’ West Ham, who are trying to hijack the operation. Julen Lopetegui’s future at the club seems to be uncertain, and this could give Monaco an edge to quickly wrap up the deal for Banzuzi.
RMC Sport also report on Monaco’s agreement with the 19-year-old for a contract until 2030.
They add Leicester City, who showed interested, are out of the race, but West Ham could still try to snatch Banzuzi from Monaco’s clutches.
Het Nieuwsblad relay VI’s claim and then provide their own information on this case. They also claim the Premier League side could hijack the Monaco’s deal for the Netherlands U21 international.
Even though two other sources have stated Monaco are well placed in the transfer race, the Belgian newspaper claim Leuven haven’t heard anything concrete yet. This should give the Hammers encouragement in their efforts to sign Banzuzi in this window.
