Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham United are reportedly interested in bringing Sander Berge to the Premier League from Genk in January.
Good things come to those who wait and, some four years after Sander Berge spent a brief spell training at West Ham United as a precocious teenager yet to make his mark in the game, the Norwegian midfielder could finally join forces with the Premier League powerhouses for an eye-watering £20 million fee.
The 6ft 4ins in Genk powerhouse has been relentlessly linked with the likes of Liverpool and Napoli in recent weeks on the back of his colossal performances in the Champions League group stages. But, according to Bleacher Report, it is West Ham who are leading the queue for a player who looks certain to leave Belgian football behind sooner rather than later.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side are confident of finally wrapping up a deal for a player who once trained alongside Mark Noble and co as a 17-year-old during a short trial period in the English capital.
“When I found out that West Ham wanted to get me at the age of 17, it caressed my ego,” Berge admitted to Het Nieuwsblad earlier in the year.
Powerful and combative yet classy and clever with the ball at his feet, the prospect of a Berge-Declan Rice partnership in the centre of the park should have West Ham fans everywhere drooling.
This is a player who could finally ease the burden on captain fantastic Noble with his physical and technical attributes reminiscent of the 32-year-old in his formative years in claret and blue.
Carlos Cuesta, Berge’s Genk team-mate, admitted earlier this month that the 21-year-old is very unlikely to still be plying his trade at the Luminus Arena by the time February rolls around. Could he be wearing the claret and blue of West Ham at long last?
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