- EXCLUSIVE from Graeme Bailey
West Ham United and Aston Villa have joined Premier League rivals Liverpool in the race for David Hancko though Atletico Madrid have now opened talks to sign the Feyenoord defender.
Back in January, David Hancko’s agent admitted that both Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain had made their interest known in the 2023 Eredivisie champion.
The subsequent appointment of his former Feyenoord coach Arne Slot as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement added extra fuel to the fire. But HITC understands that, despite Liverpool being in the market for a ball-playing, left-sided central defender, there is nothing to suggest that the Anfield outfit are weighing up an offer for Hancko at this stage.
The same cannot be said of Atletico Madrid, however.
Los Colchoneros sources have confirmed to us that Diego Simeone’s La Liga giants have held talks with Hancko. There is also admiration towards the Slovakia international from Aston Villa and West Ham United, though it appears that Atletico are the most advanced of any club as things stand.
West Ham and Aston Villa like Feyenoord’s David Hancko
Hancko, coming into his prime at the age of 26, has been a revelation in the Netherlands since joining Feyenoord from Sparta Prague in 2022. His line-breaking passes have proven very handy in a team who tend to dominate possession.
It was the other side of Hancko’s game that really caught the eye during Slovakia’s shock victory over Belgium at Euro 2024, however.
The one-time Fiorentina man was part of an exceptional rearguard effort in the group-stages first real coupon-buster. Hancko put his head where it hurt while blocking Johan Bakayoko’s strike off the line, taking a stray knee to the face for his troubles.
“I think David Hancko played a very important role with that block on the line,” former Feyenoord ace Tim De Cler tells ESPN, watching on in awe as the former Sparta Prague man put his head where it hurt with the medical staff sprinting over to him for the second time.
“That, plus the result, makes him the Player of the Day. He is developing so well. He is so stable and can actually do everything. I just think he is an all-round top defender.”
“If he makes it to the next round (of the Euros), his market value will also increase,” De Cler adds, talking up a potential move to Liverpool or Atletico. “More and more clubs are becoming interested, and there were already.
“I think he can easily handle a (major European) club. I’m talking about a club like Atletico Madrid or Liverpool. He can certainly handle that.”
Liverpool not yet planning an offer
Hancko, interestingly, is a self-professed Liverpool fan, thanks in part to the success of fellow Slovakian Martin Skrtel on Merseyside. Some of the other left-footed centre-halves on Liverpool’s radar include Chelsea’s Levi Colwill and Bayer Leverkusen’s Piero Hincapie.
West Ham, meanwhile, have opened talks with Wolverhampton Wanderers over Max Kilman.
Now the captain at Molineux, Kilman tends to start on the left-hand side of Wolves’ back four. It would take offers in the region of £50 million to convince the Black Country outfit to sell, HITC understands, with Hancko potentially available for around half that fee.
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