West Ham United are showing an interest in NK Istra defender Dario Maresic as they look to bolster their options this month.
That’s according to journalist Peter Linden, who has hinted that the Hammers are looking into a deal for the 24-year-old.
He covers the defender today and how he could be set to feature at Euro 2024 for Croatia, should he change citizenship first.
That would be a big moment for the defender, whose career has so far been limited to Austria, an unsuccessful spell in France and now NK Istra.
He’s been impressing with the latter since joining them on loan from Reims in July 2022, a deal that was turned into a permanent one this year.
And, according to Linden, those performances have not gone unnoticed. He reports that ‘it will be decided’ in the next three and a half weeks, i.e. during this transfer window, whether Maresic gets a move to the Premier League.
He claims that West Ham are in the picture for the defender, in a move that would undoubtedly be a ‘career highlight to date’.
Now, he makes no mention of where West Ham’s interest has come from, whether they’ve made any initial moves or even what they’d pay, he simply says a move is being thought about.
Linden does make clear, though, that Maresic is seen as a player with big potential and is represented by the Universal agency, who also represent Luka Modric, Emiliano Martinez and Alexander Isak. They are known to have a ‘strong network’ in England.
West Ham, for their part currently have Konstantinos Mavropanos and Angelo Ogbonna as their central pair and Nayef Aguerd and Kurt Zouma as cover so they’re not short on central defenders. They did let Thilo Kehrer leave this month, though, so need a replacement.
That could potentially be Maresic, according to Linden, who would secure a ‘record deal’ for NK Istra should he depart.
