“Didn’t expect West Ham to come” – Player says Hammers summer interest led to ‘two annoying weeks’

Club Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken has admitted West Ham United’s interest in him last summer led to “two annoying weeks” for him personally.

The midfielder has been speaking to Eleven Sports in Belgium, relayed by Voetbal Primeur, about the possibility of a foreign transfer in the coming years.

He’s been with Brugge since a move from KSC Lokeren in 2015 and has been a star for the club since, managing 110 goals and 78 assists in 383 games for the club to date.

That’s seen him regularly linked with a move away, with West Ham having explored the possibility of signing him on more than one occasion.

Indeed, the last few summer transfer windows have seen the Hammers continually linked with a move as David Moyes is believed to be a fan of the player.

That was again the case last summer, with West Ham pushing to make a move happen before eventually signing Lucas Paqueta instead.

That left Vanaken at Brugge, where he ultimately signed a new deal until 2027, which should put an end to any foreign transfer ideas for the time being.

“That chance [of a move abroad] may get smaller every year, but I wouldn’t say it’s over yet,” he said.

“But I am well aware that that chance gets smaller and more difficult over the years. But again, I’m super satisfied here.

“I actually didn’t expect West Ham to come last year either. That was also only somewhere in mid-August. So, I hadn’t really bothered with that at all. So those were just two annoying weeks.”