West Ham United is reportedly the most likely Premier League destination for Juventus defender Koni de Winter with interest from Southampton and Crystal Palace ‘slowing down’.
The Belgium U21 international is playing regular first-team football for the first time in his career on loan at Empoli. And if there were any concerns about whether De Winter could make the step up from youth team football, well he is dispelling those with every towering header and every well-time tackle at the Stadio Carlo Castellani.
“He has the potential of a great defender and will play in a top club. Not only because of his his technical quality but also his composure,” Empoli coach Paolo Zanetti told DAZN following Friday’s 0-0 draw away at Scudetto holders AC Milan.
“He must provide consistency. He is maturing.”
Youngsters Nicolo Fagioli, Matias Soule and Fabio Miretti have come on leaps and bounds under Max Allegri at Juventus this season. Tuttomercatoweb, however, believe that 20-year-old De Winter could be sold before being handed an opportunity to follow in their footsteps.
West Ham lead race to sign Juventus’ Koni De Winter
The £17 million-rated centre-half, TuttoJuve add, was scouted by Ligue 1 high-flyers Stade Reims at the San Siro over the weekend. There is also interest from Monza and Sassuolo. Ditto a Bayer Leverkusen side hoping to hold onto defensive trio Odilon Kossounou, Jonathan Tah and Piero Hincapie.
In terms of the Premier League, the report believes that West Ham are at the front of the queue. Interest from Crystal Palace and Southampton, for whatever reason, has ‘slowed down’. Perhaps that is due to De Winter’s eye-watering £17 million price-tag. Or perhaps neither club is thinking too heavily about transfers with their Premier League status still uncertain.
West Ham, meanwhile, may be in the market for defensive reinforcements after losing Craig Dawson to Wolves in January. Angelo Ogbonna, meanwhile, will turn 35 in May.
“(Juventus’) management and the technical staff value him a lot,” De Winter’s agent said last year. “The only question mark here concerns what is best for him. We will evaluate which path to take with the club, and we will try to reach the right compromise.
“He is a player in great demand on the transfer market, but there are no secrets between us and Juve. There is interest from England, Holland and Germany. We will talk. There is still a lot of time.”
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