West Ham United are in the battle to sign FC Utrecht’s Souffian El Karouani in the winter market, according to De Telegraaf.
The Morrocco international joined Utrecht for free in 2023 and has been a regular since then. To put it in context, the left-back has played 97 matches, managing five goals and 27 assists. Three goals and 15 assists are from this season.
De Telegraaf labels him the ‘Assist King’, and his performances this season have encouraged interest from several clubs, including West Ham.
Eintracht Frankfurt, the Hammers, Bologna, FC Porto and Benfica are among clubs to have shown interest in El Karouani. The report adds all these clubs want to add the 25-year-old to their squad in January.
His impressive performances for the Eredivisie side weren’t enough to make it to Walid Regragui’s squad for AFCON. Therefore, De Telegraaf states the fullback hopes to move to a top league, to get back into the national team squad. He aims to represent Morocco at the World Cup.
El Karouani has just over six months left on his contract. The upcoming window will be the Dutch club’s last chance to earn a fee from his sale.
Utrecht’s current record sale stands at €12m. Taking this and the Moroccan’s contract situation into account, West Ham can sign El Karouani for a reasonable price in January.
