West Ham have recently been linked with a January move for Manchester City centre-back Nathan Ake.
The Hammers are expected to enter the market in order to find defensive reinforcements having lost Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna for a likely prolonged spell.
Ake has been a fringe player at the Etihad ever since arriving from AFC Bournemouth for £40million in 2020 (BBC).
Speaking to Football Insider, former Premier League striker Gabby Agbonlahor has suggested the pursuit would be an expensive one.
He would be (an upgrade). But I don’t see them letting him go, to be honest. He’s been playing recently and Man City will want to keep him. I don’t see that being an option, to be honest. I don’t think Man City need to be doing West Ham any favours. Someone like Ake is going to cost a lot of money.
So far this season the 26-year-old Dutchman has scored twice in 11 appearances across all competitions for Manchester City.
READ WEST HAM VERDICT
Valued at £28.8million and under contract in the North-West until 2025 (Transfermarkt), West Ham would be unlikely to land the ace for anything less than £30million.
Whilst a loan had originally been mooted, recent outings would suggest Pep Guardiola may be reticent to allow the 23-cap man to leave.
Strong aerially and with the ability to play out from the back, David Moyes’ admiration is of little surprise but this is a deal that may prove difficult to come to fruition.
