Tim Steidten has racked up plenty of air miles since his appointment as West Ham United’s technical director.
Face to face talks held in Amsterdam were enough to secure moves to the Premier League for former Ajax pair Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez. Steidten also travelled to Brazil last summer in an eventually failed attempt to lure Yuri Alberto away from Internacional.
West Ham saw a £14 million bid rejected for Alberto.
The former Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen chief has been back in South America recently too, per The Standard.
The price of the ticket will be worth every penny should Luis Guilherme – the ‘extraordinary’ £25 million teenager snapped up to great expectations from Palmeiras – live up to his vast potential.
West Ham’s pursuit of fellow Brazilian Fabricio Bruno ended very differently, however. HITC understands that talks with the Flamengo centre-back broke down due to his eye-watering £100,000-a-week wage demands.
- READ: 50 MOST LIKELY PREMIER LEAGUE, EFL AND EUROPEAN SUMMER 2024 FOOTBALL TRANSFERS
Wesley Gassova is a West Ham and Everton target
But what is the situation regarding Wesley Gassova?
The Corinthians whizzkid who, HITC has been told, will cost a similar fee to the aforementioned Guilherme. West Ham, back in May, offered around half of that £25 million asking price.
There is interest too from Crystal Palace, Fulham and Everton, with speculation over in Brazil raising it’s head again this week.
Your typical right-footed left winger who likes to cut inside and use his speed to race away from full-backs, 19-year-old Wesley is almost certain to be on his way across the Atlantic at some point in the near future; following in the footsteps of Guilherme, Endrick, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, Gabriel Martinelli and more.
And Cafu, one of the bonafide legends of Brazilian football, would love to see Wesley follow in his footsteps at Italian giants AS Roma.
“What do Roma need in the market? You always have to find the right players, (and) never buy just for the sake of buying,” Cafu, the iconic right-back who was part of that 2002 World Cup-winning squad, tells Il Messaggero.
“The very strong one is Endrick, but he has now gone to Real Madrid.
“However, I am banking on Wesley from Corinthians. He is a very good left winger. He will be our next joy. That’s why I tell Roma to sign him.
“Without a doubt, I recommend him.”
Corinthians want £25 million for Brazil starlet
Whether West Ham would be willing to invest a combined £50 million on two teenage Brazilian wingers is anyone’s guess. But there is no reason why Guilherme and Wesley could not thrive in the same Hammers’ side, the former preferring to start on the right while the latter loiters out on the left.
Fellow suitors Fulham and Crystal Palace have made use of the Brazilian market in recent times too, while Everton need more creativity and cutting edge in attack.
Palace invested heavily on bringing Matheus Franca to Selhurst Park last summer. Franca has struggled, thus far, with the physicality of the English game.
South American expert Tim Vickery, speaking to talkSPORT (22 May, 3pm), has few concerns that Wesley would run into similar issues should he follow in the Palace starlet’s footsteps.
“He is one of these inverted wingers that Brazilian football is producing a lot of,” Vickery explains. “The slight difference with him is a lot of those tend to be physically frail. Whereas he is built! He’s like a horse.
“My doubt – and it is only a little doubt because he is very, very promising – once you get into English football, you take away his acceleration space. At the moment, he has got time to run, and he can be a fearsome prospect for defenders.
“Take that space away and he’s going to have to come up with more ‘reduced-space’ skills.
“But he is a very, very interesting prospect and he’s a nightmare for full-backs. If he’s running at you, you’re going to be scared.”
The post 'He's very good': Brazil icon Cafu hails £25m Everton target after West Ham bid appeared first on HITC.
Next
