West Ham have a strong interest in Borussia Mönchengladbach centre-back Matthias Ginter.
The 27-year-old has made 46 caps for Germany and was part of the squad that won the FIFA World Cup in 2014.
It has already been confirmed that Ginter will leave Gladbach at the end of the season after failing to agree a new contract. West Ham will face plenty of competition to sign such an accomplished player for a low price in January or free transfer in the summer.
West Ham are looking at German centre-back Matthias Ginter with his contract soon expiring at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Ginter’s agent is – you guessed it – Will Salthouse
It is worth keeping in mind that Ginter is a client of footbal agent, Will Salthouse. West Ham, via owner David Sullivan, have a great relationship with Salthouse who is the agent of five West Ham players such as, Aaron Cresswell, Craig Dawson and Michail Antonio.
Salthouse is also the former agent of Said Benrahma and he was key in bringing the Algerian to West Ham.
The Irons will face competition from the likes of Inter Milan, Newcastle and Ginter’s former club, Borussia Dortmund, who are all interested in signing the defender. However, Salthouse could give West Ham the edge.
Who is Ginter?
Ginter has never played outside of Germany, beginning his career at Freiburg before moving on to play for Dortmund, now at Gladbach he has made 135 appearances so far. He has featured regularly for the national team since 2014 and made the Bundesliga team of the season two campaigns ago.
At 6ft 2in he is strong in the air, which is so important to David Moyes’ side style of play. He is also very comfortable on the ball that gives his teams the ability to play out from the back and adds lots of experience for someone not too old.
He also offers some versatility, playing a number of games before at right-back and defensive midfield.
There is no doubt that Ginter would be a fabulous signing for West Ham, especially with Kurt Zouma currently out injured, Angelo Ogbonna sustaining a long-term injury and ageing, as well as current duo Dawson and Issa Diop being less than convincing as a pair in recent matches.
West Ham had shortlisted four centre-backs they were targeting, however, Ginter’s contract situation has led to him being added to that list.