Huddersfield Town haven’t faced too much competition so far in the window but West Ham want to beat them to Andrea Ranocchia.
Huddersfield Town may have stunned English football by reaching the Premier League after spending less than £4 million last summer but chairman Dean Hoyle accepts that there’s no room for stinginess in the big league.
The Terriers have already spent more than £30 million in a flurry of activity since they toasted play-off final success against Reading at Wembley, breaking their transfer record on four occasions to sign Laurent Depoitre, Aaron Mooy, Tom Ince and, most recently, £11 million hitman Steve Mounie, per the BBC.
However, while the aforementioned quartet purport to give these early relegation favourites the extra dash of quality required to survive the Premier League test, their next transfer target is perhaps the most palpable sign of their ambition.
Andrea Ranocchia largely impressed at Hull City
According to Football Italia, Huddersfield have offered £4.4 million to sign Inter Milan centre-back Andrea Ranocchia. The 29-year-old’s reputation may have plummeted in recent seasons, to the point where he spent the second half of last season on loan at Hull City, failing to keep The Tigers in the Premier League.
Yet, a number of impressive displays under Marco Silva at least restored some of the lustre to this former Nerrazzuri captain, who has 21 caps for Italy.
And he would be one of the most high profile signings in Huddersfield’s recent history, even more so than record signing Mounie, who only exploded onto the scene last season with Montpellier in Ligue 1.
New league, new era
Yet, according to Corriere Dello Sport (5th July, page 16), Premier League rivals West Ham are also interested. Now, despite a disappointing campaign last season, one which almost cost Slaven Bilic his job, The Hammers remain a powerful adversary for Huddersfield in the transfer market.
A number of their bigger signings in the last couple of windows, most notably Dimitri Payet, highlighted their attraction, while playing in front of the 66,000 capacity London Stadium will only be a positive.
Huddersfield haven’t faced much Premier League opposition for the majority of their signings this summer but beating West Ham to Ranocchia would be a real statement of intent.
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