West Ham United announced four first-team exits late last week. Chances are, the departures of Vladimir Coufal, Lukasz Fabianski, Danny Ings and Aaron Cresswell are just the beginning.
West Ham expect offers to arrive for Mohammed Kudus. One suspects they will be open to bids for James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez, Emerson Palmieri and Konstantinos Mavropanos too.
Carlos Soler will return to Paris Saint-Germain after an underwhelming loan spell. Guido Rodriguez is in talks to re-join River Plate. And the seldom-seen Luis Guilherme may be offered an escape route by Feyenoord, though whether the Dutch giants can afford a record-breaking fee for the Brazilian remains to be seen.
A busy summer ahead, then, at West Ham United. Not just in terms of outgoings, but potentially with incomings too. So many departures will create a squad with more holes than a block of Swiss cheese struck by a gatling gun, after all.
A London Stadium spokesman, speaking to Hammers News recently, confirmed that West Ham plan to sign ‘possibly more’ than five new players while constructing a new-look squad based around ‘exciting younger talent’.
But does Napoli left-back Mathias Olivera, at the age of 27, fall into such a category?
Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images
West Ham United linked with Napoli ace Mathias Olivera
Of course, that depends on what you consider a ‘younger’ player to be. Mathias Olivera will turn 28 in October. Yet, he is still seven years Aaron Cresswell’s junior. West Ham are reportedly open to offers for Emerson, too. The former Chelsea and Roma man is also on the wrong side of 30.
Oliveira would be a younger, fresher alternative at left-back, then, if not quite the sort of high-potential superkid some fans may be hoping for.
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According to Spanish publication Diario AS, West Ham have joined rivals Tottenham in the race for the Uruguay international. Brighton and Hove Albion are interested too, alongside Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.
A regular in Antonio Conte’s Scudetto-chasing Napoli side, Olivera has a contract until the summer of 2023. As such, the team sitting one point clear of Inter Milan with two Serie A matchdays remaining are expected to demand around £25 million.
Olivera is happy in Serie A and signed new contract with Antonio Conte’s side
Olivera joined Napoli back in 2022 after a spell in Spain with Getafe. Provider of three assists this term, the 28-cap full-back is often the man who provides the width on the left-hand side in Conte’s system, allowing the free-scoring, box-crashing Scott McTominay to drift into a more central role.
With the ink still drying on a contract he signed back in March, however, Napoli may not be in any rush to cash in. Olivera also does not sound like a man desperate for a fresh challenge.
“[Naples] is a city that looks a lot like South America. I’m very happy to be here,” a content Olivera said at the time. “The food here is great. I really like the margherita pizza, and the mozzarella too. I drink a lot of coffee here. It’s on another level.
“In Italy the tactical aspect is very important. Here, in Naples, I have improved a lot in my game with the ball.”
Now searching for his second Scudetto, Olivera was crowned an Italian champion under the beady eye of Luciano Spalletti in 2023.
Spalletti even admitted, at the beginning of that glorious campaign, that Olivera had outperformed the likes of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Matteo Politano and spring-heeled centre-forward Victor Osimhen while finishing top of the charts in Napoli’s ‘speed and endurance tests’.