West Ham are ‘willing to meet’ AS Monaco’s €20m asking price for defender Aymen Abdennour, reports Calcio Mercato.
The Hammers were said to be just ‘one step away’ from completing the signing of the Tunisian centre-back after submitting a €18m bid for the highly-rated player.
Juventus and AC Milan had both submitted undisclosed bids for the 25-year-old, who caught the eye of several teams around Europe during AS Monaco’s surprising Champions League run which saw them knockout Arsenal.
Liverpool and Newcastle were also linked, but it now looks like West Ham are set to win the race for Abdennour as they’re the only club thus far to be happy to meet the Ligue 1 club’s demands.
It’s reported that Abdennour would prefer a move to Milan if the opportunity came about, but would be equally as happy to sign for the Hammers this summer and join their ambitious project.
A potential £14.2m deal for the defender would make him the second-most expensive player in West Ham player, just behind Andy Carroll.
