West Ham United could seal a transfer for an extremely exciting teenager, but he won’t come cheap.
Julen Lopetegui has two key tasks this summer – to improve the quality of his current West Ham squad and to reduce the average age of the group at the London Stadium.
We’ve already been told by football finance expert Adam Williams how the Hammers have around £90 million to spend this summer, excluding player sales.
So if Lopetegui manages to sell the likes of Nayef Aguerd, Danny Ings and Flynn Downes, his budget could creep up to around £130-150 million.
One area where the Spaniard will definitely be looking to improve is his forward ranks. We quite simply haven’t got enough quality attacking options right now.
And Lopetegui is obviously keen to change that before the start of the new season.
In fact, it was recently claimed that the former Wolves boss wants to get the majority of his business done before our pre-season campaign kicks off on July 20th.
And an 18-year-old attacking midfielder may well be one of the first signings Lopetegui makes as West Ham manager…
West Ham told to pay £8.5 million to seal transfer
The Hammers are on the hunt for one of Europe’s most highly coveted young stars this summer.
However, Lopetegui will have to convince the West Ham board to part with some serious cash to wrap up a deal for him.
According to German publication Bild, the Hammers must pay Hertha Berlin £8.5 million to secure the signing of Ibrahim Maza this summer.
Brighton, Leicester City and Brentford apparently want to sign the Germany under-19 international as well.
He’s played just 15 senior games for Hertha Berlin, with two goals and two assists to his name (Transfermarkt).
The supremely talented teenager is an attacking midfielder by trade, but he can also operate on the left wing, or even as an auxiliary centre-forward if need be.
Ibrahim Maza clearly has huge scope to grow as a player, and if he goes on to fulfil his potential, he would undoubtedly be an absolute snip of a transfer for West Ham at just £8.5 million.
However, that’s the risk involved isn’t it. Nobody knows whether or not the Hertha Berlin teenager will actually amount to anything at the very highest level.
And whether the Hammers board will be prepared to pay £8.5 million to take that risk is highly doubtful in my opinion.
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