Earlier this week, the Brazilian media reported West Ham United interest in signing Red Bull Bragantino defender Léo Ortiz.
It was claimed the Hammers are in touch with his agent, and his club now waits for offers of between €8m and €10m for a summer move.
It turns out it didn’t take long for Ortiz himself to speak about the rumours. He was interviewed by GE Bragantino Podcast, and made interesting comments regarding West Ham’s chase for him, which sound very positive for the Hammers.
“I see it with good eyes. It’s always very good for a player to be valued in this way, with the interest of European clubs. West Ham are a club that plays in the best league in the world, which is the Premier League. Reached the Europa League semifinals. I was very happy for the interest of these clubs,” Léo Ortiz told Globo Esporte.
“I think it’s important for me, I think maybe I’m ready to reach the European market, I’ve matured a lot. But as I always say: I’m very happy here. It’s a place I play regularly, I’ve been performing well in recent years. This is important for me to be going to the national team. This is where I was when I was called up. So, I believe there are chances here too, but I also know how important it is.”
The player claims that he’s now waiting to see if West Ham are indeed going for the signing.
“I was able to experience these calls over the last few months and see up close the players who play abroad and see how different the speed of the game is when you play with these players, how important it’d be for me to evolve in this part and experience football at the highest level. We know that the Brazilian championship is at a very good level, with great quality players, but we know that playing in the Champions League, Europa League, the the top five European leagues, is extremely important for the player to evolve.
“I’m very happy. But, as I said, nothing concrete has arrived yet. So it’s hard to talk. As soon as something is more certain, I’ll put it on the table, see what’s best for my career, what’s best for the club as well. It is wait and see what will happen. I still can’t say anything concrete,”
Globo Esporte now adds that Bragantino also see a potential deal ‘with good eyes’ so they can get an interesting amount with the sale.
It’s once again claimed that the Hammers’ contact was to gather information on the player, and just like Ortiz himself, the outlet confirms that no bids have been submitted so far.
