Aissa Mandi’s impressive La Liga displays for Real Betis could reportedly earn him a move to the Premier League with struggling West Ham United.
West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini wants to reinforce his struggling backline with the signing of £30 million Real Betis stopper Aissa Mandi, according to Le Buteur.
After a bright start to the season which had some suggesting that a European challenge was on the cards, the Hammers have slid down the table after failing to win any of their last five Premier League games.
A 3-2 home defeat to a previously goal-shy Newcastle side was particularly concerning as the hosts were opened up again and again on the counter attack, while conceding three times from set pieces.
So 51-time Algerian international Mandi could stroll into West Ham’s starting XI if he swaps La Liga for the London Stadium in the winter. A 28-year-old centre-half who can also fill in at right-back or left-back, the former Reims ace joined Betis in 2016 and he has been one of their most impressive performers during a difficult start to the new season.
The report adds that Mandi has a release clause worth around £30 million in his contract, meaning that Los Verdiblancos will be powerless to prevent him walking away from the Estadio Benito Villamarin should West Ham decide that he is worth the money.
This is not the first time Pellegrini’s side have tried to bring Mandi to the capital either. ABC Sevilla claims that they had a £13 million bid rejected in the summer of 2018 before signing Toulouse captain Issa Diop instead.
And suggestions that they have renewed their interest come as the Sun (7 November, page 58) reports that Eintracht Frankfurt’s Austrian powerhouse Martin Hinteregger is also a £20 million target with West Ham seemingly willing to pay big in order to strengthen their Achilles heel.
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