A midfielder on the respective radars of West Ham United, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain was likened to a young Jude Bellingham, labelled the natural heir to Granit Xhaka, and described as the ‘Swiss Casemiro’.
Now, as he picks up the Belgian Jupiler League’s Player of the Year award despite Club Brugge losing out on the title to Union Saint-Gilloise, Ardon Jashari is a footballer rapidly making a name for himself in his own right.
West Ham opened talks with Jashari in May. If the Hammers thought they had a clear run at the former FC Lugano captain, though, they were sadly mistaken.
Such as been the speed of his rise to prominence over in Belgium, competition is at an all-time high. So is his price-tag.
Photo by Joris Verwijst/BSR Agency/Getty Images
Photo by Joris Verwijst/BSR Agency/Getty Images
West Ham blow as Manchester City and PSG join Ardon Jashari race
Manchester City have made a move for the Switzerland international themselves. After a season in which the absence of Rodri created a gaping hole which not even a £200 million January splurge could fix, the £30 million-rated Jashari has been identified as something of a Pep polyfiller; covering over the cracks in City’s ageing, aching midfield.
Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen are also in the mix, per Het Belang van Limburg.
Now, the reports coming out of Belgium this week do not rule out a summer switch to West Ham United directly. But, after three-time Golden Shoe winner Hans Vanaken rejected a transfer to the London Stadium, his Club Brugge teammate and the latest recipient of the Player of the Year award could take a leaf out of the captain’s playbook.
Jashari responds to transfer rumours after Player of the Year win
HBVL report that Jashari has ‘no intention of signing for a mid-table team’.
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
This is in response to claims that Fulham want to bring the 22-year-old to Craven Cottage. West Ham may be a bigger, richer club than their London neighbours but the point still stands.
Without European football, a man who shone on the Champions League stage last season appears out of their reach.
“Of course I am very proud to win this in my first year in Belgium,” Jashari says, via Het Belang van Limburg, after joining Axel Witsel, Thorgan Hazard, Vincent Kompany and the aforementioned Vanaken in the list of Golden Shoe winners.
“I am happy that I came out on top. At the beginning of the season I never expected this. My good match against Sturm Graz in the Champions League was the turning point. From then on, I felt the confidence of the coach and the teammates and in the end it was still a great season with the [Belgian] cup win as the highlight – my very first prize as a professional.
“Will I still play for Club [next season]? At the moment I am not thinking about a transfer. You never know in football, but I feel very good and happy here.”
Comparisons with Bellingham, Casemiro and experienced compatriot Xhaka, meanwhile, highlight the extent of Ardon Jashari’s skillset.
A combative ball-winner, on one hand, but also an excellent distributor from deep and an occasional goal-threat when bursting into the penalty area. Despite lining up as a supposedly defensive midfielder, Jashari scored four times and assisted six more goals during his debut season in Belgium.
Interestingly, he is not the only Club Brugge enforcer under consideration. West Ham may be one step closer to Raphael Onyedika, too, with Hamburg’s Ludovit Reis heading to Belgium as a replacement for the exit-bound Nigerian.