On Tuesday morning, Record in Portugal had a story on Yacine Brahimi and how West Ham could provide competition to Lazio to sign him.
The idea was that the Serie A side could make an approach as early as January, offering a €5-6m bid for the Algeria international, whose contract is set to expire in the summer.
There was the explanation that Porto probably wouldn’t be open to that, even if letting him walk in the summer would cost them €6.5m, as they would owe that sum to Doyen Sports.
In Italy, the story is a little different, as there’s no mention of Lazio bidding in January, but there is talk from Corriere dello Sport that an approach to discuss a contract for June could very well happen.
After all, there’s nothing to lose for the Serie A side, who would get the forward on a free, providing him with a new adventure to boot.
West Ham are also mentioned as a team who are interested in Brahimi’s services, alongside the usual suspects of Besiktas and Marseille.
However, and this caught our eye, the Hammers could have an advantage if it comes down to the financial aspect of things.
Corriere explain that a four to five year contract worth €2m/year would be enough to convince the 28-year-old.
That’s the equivalent of around £34k/week, which, even after post tax, seems risible for a player who will want one last big paycheque as he nears his 30s.
West Ham, if they are indeed interested, are likely to offer a lot more than that, as they showed in the summer they aren’t scared to spend big on the right players.
If €2m/year is all Lazio are prepared to offer, then David Gold and co. should sleep easy at night, but, and it’s a big one, Lazio are currently likelier to be able to offer Brahimi European football next season.
This means it could come down to what the forward is looking for.
