West Ham United target Gonzalo Montiel wants to leave Argentinian side River Plate and could be available for as little as £5.1m, according to Marca.
The report claimed that the right-back has been a wanted man all over Europe. Roma and Lyon are said to have explored deals, but the finances were not felt to be right in a prospective move from either club.
Equally, La Liga outfit Villareal are another suitor reportedly rivalling West Ham for the 24-year-old’s signature.
Montiel’s contract at River Plate expires in the summer, with the defender reportedly having a release clause of $20 million (£14.6m), but West Ham will not need to pay a figure of that size.
According to Marca, River Plate would accept an offer ‘of between $7 and $8 million’, meaning the Hammers would only need to fork out as little as £5.1m to strengthen at right-back.
The Hammers paid a similar figure to bring Vladimir Coufal from Slavia Prague to the London Stadium last year, and could acquire a young and promising defender in Montiel for a similar sum.
Read West Ham Verdict
Unsurprisingly, West Ham are not the only interested party in Montiel when a deal could be done for just over £5m, but he is nonetheless a savvy target who is still relatively young and retains significant potential to improve, as well as being an established Argentina international.
However, his potential arrival could spell doom for the future of Ryan Fredericks, who has fallen heavily down the pecking order after Coufal’s arrival with just six league appearances this season.
