Ajax Again In Competition With West Ham, Dutch Travel To Club For Direct Talks For Player

West Ham United could be at risk of missing out on Dinamo Zagreb defender Josip Sutalo after Ajax stepped up their pursuit of the Croatian.

The 23-year-old defender, who has just helped his side see off FC Astana in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, is being linked with a move away before the transfer window closes on 1st September.

Dinamo Zagreb do not want to sell Sutalo, especially while they are still involved in the Champions League.

The Hammers, who are yet to sign a player this summer, have Sutalo in mind as an option to strengthen their defence.

However, West Ham have competition from Dutch giants Ajax, who recently hijacked their move for Carlos Borges and are now stepping on the accelerator.

Ajax are pushing to get a deal done for Sutalo and have made direct contact with Dinamo Zagreb, according to Italian outlet Tutto Mercato.

In fact, representatives from the Dutch club travelled to Zagreb in order to hold face-to-face talks with the management of the Croatian club after seeing two of their bids being rejected by Dinamo Zagreb.

A third bid of €19m plus €4m in bonuses has now been tabled to taste the Croatian club’s resolve.

Dinamo Zagreb are claimed to be looking for between €20m and €25m in order to let Sutalo go.

MEDICAL DONE: West Ham has complete the signing of another playmaker from…..

West Ham United finally on verge of transfer completion as Denis Zakaria fee agreed

West Ham are closing in on the signing of Denis Zakaria and he should be an excellent addition to the squad ahead of the upcoming campaign.

The Daily Mirror reported (1 August, 07:44am) that the Hammers had agreed a deal with Serie A club Juventus to sign the Swiss midfielder.

If the deal does go through for the 26-year-old, it will bring West Ham’s long pursuit of a new central midfielder to an end as they look to replace Declan Rice after he left for Arsenal last month.

The Hammers have been absolutely desperate to get a deal over the line for a new midfielder this summer as they are currently extremely short in that department.

The club have been knocked back on a number of occasions for several players, with not one single addition so far being made to David Moyes’s squad.

But after weeks of drawn-out negotiations with Juventus, it appears as though the Irons will have a new midfielder in the form of Zakaria with the start of the Premier League season just over a week away.

The Swiss has endured a difficult time at Juventus since joining the club from Borussia Monchengladbach for a reported £6million fee in January 2022.

After making just 15 appearances for the Turin side, he was loaned out to Chelsea last season, where his campaign was cut short through injury after making 11 appearances for the club.

Despite not playing an awful lot of football over the past couple of years, Zakaria is just the kind of player the Irons have been looking for to do a job in front of the defence in the absence of Rice.

His 6’3″ presence will be welcome in the middle of the park and will ensure he’s an asset at both ends of the field.

In terms of stats on a per 90 basis last season, Zakaria made 2.54 tackles and was successful on 1.36 of those occasions a game – more than any other Hammers midfielder, with Rice attempting 2.17 tackles and having a success rate of 1.04 [FBREF].

He is certainly no slouch on the ball either, as he boasted a pass completion rate of 87.6 per cent, with Flyn Downes next up on 87.3 per cent, Rice 86.5 per cent and Soucek falling well behind on 71.3 per cent.

The midfielder will be a superb addition as we look to get our first deal over the line and start gaining some momentum in the transfer market ahead of the upcoming season.

In other West Ham news, the club are still eyeing a move for their “dream” midfielder this summer.