Feyenoord have made David Hancko their joint-record signing with the defender joining the Dutch giants despite recent interest from Premier League outfit West Ham United, as reported by De Telegraaf.
A couple of months ago, Hancko’s agent admitted that he would not be surprised to see his client follow in the footsteps of Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal; Swapping Prague for London.
“The connection between Sparta and West Ham is obvious,” said Michael Holesczak. “So something like that wouldn’t be a big surprise. Anyway, Hancko is currently ready for any of the top five European leagues.”
The Slovakia international is embarking upon something of an intermediate step instead, however. The switch from Czech football to the Eredivisie represents a step up, yes, but a manageable one.
De Telegraaf say that West Ham were indeed interested during the January window. But while the Hammers have spent much of the summer months in hot pursuit of a left-sided central defender, Hancko’s name was conspicuous by it’s absence from the gossip columns with David Moyes instead opting for Nayef Aguerd and the two-footed, adaptable Thilo Kehrer.
David Hancko joins Feyenoord after West Ham United links
And Hancko, as of Monday morning, is now a Feyenoord player.
“I’m happy to finally be here,” the 24-year-old says upon his unveiling at De Kuip. “Sparta Prague wanted to keep me. But I felt that it was a good step for my career.
“I had other options but I didn’t consider them. I really wanted to sign here because this felt like the best step for me. Now I have the chance to show to everyone that I made the right choice.”
“I’m a left-footed central defender. I sometimes played left-back, but my main position is in the centre. I like to have the ball at my feet and try to get the ball through the midfield to the attackers.”
Hancko, setting Feyenoord back around £7 million, has joined fellow summer signing Quentin Timber has the joint-most expensive addition in the club’s history.
He will replace Marcos Senesi in Rotterdam following the Argentine’s move to AFC Bournemouth. Interestingly, Senesi was a West Ham target before shaking hands with Scott Parker.
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