Serie A star Diego Laxalt admitted his interest in signing for Chelsea last season but could join London rivals West Ham instead.
West Ham are not exactly short of options on the left hand side. Aaron Cresswell remains one of England’s finest left-backs when fit and firing and Arthur Masuaku, who endured a disastrous start to the season after signing from Olympiakos, improved as the campaign went on.
Therefore, reports in Corriere Dello Sport (page 18, 24th July) claiming West Ham have made a bid of around £9 million for versatile Genoa left sider Diego Laxalt raises a few eyebrows.
Laxalt (r) didn’t make the grade at Inter Milan but impressed at Genoa
The braided Uruguayan enjoyed a fine season in Serie A despite Genoa’s struggles near the bottom of the table, setting up four goals in 36 starts.
And that is reportedly enough to convince West Ham to part with another hefty sum after they paid big to secure the signings of winger Marko Arnautovic from Stoke City and Javier Hernandez from Bayer Leverkusen.
However, Laxalt could give manager Slaven Bilic plenty of options if he wants to shift between a back four and a back three next season. The 24-year-old is a left-back by trade but is also more than comfortable as a wing-back or in a defensive midfield role.
This is not the first time the three-time Uruguayan international has been linked with a move to the Premier League, Football Italia reporting interest from Chelsea in April.
“I was very pleased to read about Chelsea’s interest in me,” Laxalt stated. However, reports of a move to the Premier League champions have dried up since then, a switch to London rivals West Ham appearing more likely.
Laxalt spent the 2015/16 season on loan at Genoa from Inter Milan, where he never made a first-team appearance, and made his deal permanent last summer.
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