West Ham need a new right back as a priority ahead of the upcoming season. The Hammers have been involved in negotiations with Manchester United for Aaron Wan-Bissaka but the clubs are yet to reach an agreement on the transfer fee. Recently, GIVEMESPORT reported that Inter Milan are also interested in Wan-Bissaka and are willing to do a swap deal with United as well involving Denzel Dumfries and Wan-Bissaka.
Further, Wan-Bissaka is said to be open to joining Inter Milan as well despite agreeing personal terms with the Hammers. Thus, West Ham need to consider other alternatives to Wan-Bissaka as well. According to a report from AS Marca, West Ham are interested in signing Fenerbahce's right back Ferdi Kadioglu this summer.
West Ham submit opening bid to sign Turkish defensive starlet
The report further states that West Ham have submitted an opening bid of around £32 million for the 24-year-old star. Although Fenerbahce value the right back at around £50 million, West Ham's bid suggests that the club are looking at Kadioglu as the long term fullback for Julen Lopetegui's side.
The Turkish defender is a versatile wing back and can play as a centre back as well. Last season, Kadioglu made 37 league appearances for Fenerbahce keeping fifteen clean sheets. His impressive displays led the fullback to start in all five games for Turkey in the UEFA Euro 2024 as well. The right back is great in winning possession and is an elite defender as well. Thus, there is a lot of interest in signing Kadioglu and West Ham are also one of his admirers.
Thus, West Ham need to increase their offer in order to sign Kadioglu. Recently, Fenerbahce expressed an interest in signing West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek. Hence, the Hammers may look to include Soucek as part of the deal to sign Kadioglu for around £30 million from Fenerbahce.
Now it's up to West Ham to decide whether to negotiate further for Kadioglu or look at other options as well. Also, the signing of Wan-Bissaka is not completely ruled out yet. Looking at West Ham's defence in the preseason, the Hammers need to bring in a quality right back before their Premier League opener against Aston Villa.