Fulham and West Ham United are ‘trying to sign’ Fortuna Düsseldorf midfielder Ao Tanaka as he looks to move on from the 2. Bundesliga side.
That’s according to Rheinische Post, who say the Premier League duo are both keen on the 24-year-old this summer.
They report that Düsseldorf are currently facing a raft of departures from the club, with loanees Dawid Kownacki and Michal Karbownik already gone and Kristoffer Peterson about the join Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Tanaka could join them and according to RP, Fulham and West Ham have both shown an interest in him.
At the moment Düsseldorf sporting director Klaus Allofs does not want to announce an official price for the Japan international but any offer under €3m is likely to be turned down.
That’s because the German side believes that any sale involving Tanaka can ‘flush a nice sum’ into the club’s cash registers and significantly increase the scope they’d have for new transfers.
They are yet to receive a concrete offer from either Fulham or West Ham, but it is likely that an agreement could be reached ‘in the coming days’.
That’s because Tanaka has always made it clear that he never intended to stay long-term at Düsseldorf and he wants to play in one of the top leagues in Europe.
He ideally would have liked to have been promoted to the Bundesliga with Düsseldorf but that hasn’t happened, and he now seemingly wants to move on.
Fulham and West Ham have ‘entered the scene’ and there’s plenty of evidence that a deal could be struck quickly, something alluded to by Allofs.
“It was clear from the start which path Ao would like to go,” he said.
“The second division was not what he was looking for. But he didn’t come to me either and said he really wanted to leave.
“If there’s a situation that makes sense for both of you, then that’s totally fine. If that doesn’t work, he’ll remain our player and do a good job.”
