Defender David Hancko is ready to leave Sparta Prague and agent Michael Holescak would not be surprised to see the Slovakia international join Premier League giants West Ham United, speaking to SportNet.
And so, the January transfer window has come and gone. West Ham fans wanted a centre-forward, a centre-half and, god willing, a new left-back too. In the end, they got no one. Not even a high-profile loanee, desperate for minutes. Not even an experienced free-agent in need of a fresh start.
Though no one could accuse the Hammers of lacking ambition. Well, apart from the always outspoken Simon Jordan of course.
“It looks good on paper,” the former Crystal Palace owner tells talkSPORT, responding to claims that West Ham had submitted a trio of £50 million bids for Darwin Nunez and Leeds duo Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha.
“We can all bid for players and make sure the media are aware of our ambitions without actually being able to conclude them. This is a standard way of operating that Sullivan – and Gold – but maybe a bit more David (Sullivan) has.
“Who in God’s name told him Kalvin Phillips wants and is ready to go to West Ham? And on what basis have they gone in for a £50m player who was never going to go there in the first place?”
The implication, there, is that West Ham made offers they knew would never succeed. After all, a failed bid looks a lot better – as far as an expectant fanbase are concerned – than no bids at all.
Will West Ham sign another Prague-based star?
Perhaps a player like Hancko, a versatile 24-year-old centre-back plying his trade in the Czech capital, would have been a more ‘attainable’ transfer target in the winter window.
West Ham have a history when it comes to signing players based in Prague after all. Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal swapped Slavia Prague for the London Stadium.
Alex Kral, meanwhile, won a Czech title with Slavia before moving to Moscow.
“The connection between Sparta and West Ham is obvious,” Holesczak says when asked about the possibility of Hancko joining Coufal and Soucek in England.
“So something like that wouldn’t be a big surprise. Anyway, Hancko is currently ready for any of the top five European leagues.”
David Moyes admitted in December that he wanted a new defender after Kurt Zouma joined Angelo Ogbonna on the sidelines.
Zouma has since returned to action, however, while Issa Diop stayed put despite interest from Newcastle.
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