West Ham United’s £35 million signing Edson Alvarez admits Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund wanted to sign him before he swapped Ajax for the Premier League instead.
When David Moyes’ side sold Declan Rice for over £100 million and reinvested that windfall in a host of new signings, comparisons were inevitably drawn with a post-Luis Suarez Liverpool and a Tottenham side reacting to the departure of Gareth Bale in 2013.
But it seems this is not another case of a club ‘selling Elvis and buying Nickelback’.
Alongside fellow newcomers James Ward-Prowse, Mohammed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos, the £35 million acquisition of Edson Alvarez has served to reinforce a West Ham United side who’s squad suddenly looks stronger and deeper now than before, even without their dearly-departed captain.
Edson Alvarez impressing at West Ham already
Capped 70 times by Mexico and a two-time Eredivisie champion at Ajax; Alvarez arrived with genuine pedigree. While interest from clubs such as Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund only adds to the feeling that West Ham have pulled off quite the coup with one of Europe’s finest defensive midfielders.
“Borussia Dortmund was a very concrete option (this summer),” Alvarez tells the Mexico national team YouTube channel. “In the end, it didn’t work out.
“But there was a lot of interest on their part, including visits to Amsterdam to meet with my family.”
Alvarez has played a major role in West Ham’s unbeaten start to the new campaign; starring in successive wins over Chelsea and Luton Town.
“Edson Alvarez is a machine. It’s almost as if (he has) been told what it takes to be a West Ham player. And (how to) play in front of their fans,” former Hammers defender Rio Ferdinand told FIVE following that 3-1 Chelsea triumph.
“In recent years the signings that we have had have not understood it. It’s almost like this guy understands. He’s been told that, to get love at West Ham, this is what you have to do.”
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