Reported £17m West Ham and Southampton target has been compared to Dani Alves

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Premier League duo West Ham United and The Saints reportedly want River Plate’s Gonzalo Montiel amid comparisons with Brazil’s Copa America hero.

Not that they will admit it, but everyone connected with the Argentina national team would have turned a deep shade of green as Dani Alves rolled back the years to fire Brazil to Copa America glory last summer.

The former Barcelona, Juventus and PSG superstar turned on the style, putting ‘beautiful’ in the beautiful game before being named Player of the Tournament – no mean feat given that he had turned 36 a month before the competition begun.

All the while, Brazil’s enduring enemies from the south could only dream of possessing a rampaging right-back of Alves’ calibre with both Juan Foyth and Renzo Saravia looking out of their depth in a problem position.

But, eight months after Brazil were crowned kings of the continent, Argentina might just have found their own answer to a legendary full-back – at long last, may we add.

There is a real buzz surrounding Gonzalo Montiel, the 23-year-old River Plate star. And, after channelling his inner-Alves to set up the only goal of the game in Sunday’s 1-0 triumph over Banfield, the 2019 Copa Libertadores winner found himself being compared to arguably the greatest right-back of the 21st century (Ole).

And with El Instransigente claiming that Southampton and West Ham United are jostling to lure Montiel to the Premier League over the summer, Argentina’s rising star could be about to follow in Alves’ footsteps, 18 years after the Brazil great joined Sevilla as a little-known youngster. 

West Ham have already made a £9 million bid, one described rather disparagingly as ‘ridiculous‘ by River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo. But with an affordable £17 million release clause in his contract, the so-called ‘new Dani Alves’ could soon be flying down the flanks in England.