TBR Football can exclusively reveal that West Ham United are considering a move for Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Aleix Garcia.
West Ham have recently been frustrated in their pursuit of Southampton playmaker Mateus Fernandes.
The Hammers made an approach to sign Fernandes, only to learn that Southampton want over £50m for the 21-year-old – they were almost insulted by the initial offer that arrived from east London.
That being said, West Ham are still working hard to find a new midfield talent to dovetail with Lucas Paqueta at the London Stadium – a player they will not be selling on the cheap.
And although funds are limited at the club, West Ham are showing interest in former Manchester City man Garcia, who’s currently playing his football in the Bundesliga.
Exclusive: West Ham interested in Bayer Leverkusen’s Aleix Garcia
That being said, TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey has now provided the latest on West Ham’s transfer situation before the end of August.
Initially asked if there was a chance that Paqueta could leave West Ham this summer, Bailey went on to mention the Hammers’ interest in Garcia.
Replying to the idea of Paqueta leaving, Bailey said: “They stood by him, so I don’t think there’s a massive push for him to leave – the talk of West Ham accepting £30m has been totally ruled out.
“He’s been playing the last two years— he’s not been like Pogba, he hasn’t been banned, he hasn’t spent two years on the sidelines.
“So why would they suddenly drop from £70m down to £30m? That’s nonsense – they have other options.”
And now Spanish midfielder Garcia, who left Man City to initially head to Romania in 2020, is a potential target.
Aleix Garcia in pre-season for Bayer Leverkusen.
Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
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Pep Guardiola hailed Garcia as an ‘outstanding’ young player many moons ago, and he rekindled his career at Girona before heading to Germany.
Bailey continued: “One option is Leverkusen’s Aleix Garcia, a player they quite like, he’s not really on anyone’s radar at the moment.
“There are other players, but West Ham need to move some out first to free up funds. They liked Jacob Ramsey, but that was never an option.
“Harvey Elliott was another target, but after Mohammed Kudus left, they only had £40m, and they spent £15/20m of that on Hermansen. Funds are very limited.
“Someone like Garcia might be available for that sort of money. James Ward-Prowse has come back into consideration, but there are players they want to move on.”
Graham Potter is still trying to sell several West Ham players
In terms of players West Ham want to sell, they’re not in short supply.
The Hammers have obviously sold Kudus to Tottenham Hotspur for big money, but otherwise players have merely been departing for free.
Player Joined Fee
Mohammed Kudus Tottenham £55m
Vladimir Coufal TSG Hoffenheim Free transfer
Aaron Cresswell Stoke City Free transfer
Kurt Zouma – –
Danny Ings – –
Michail Antonio – –
Lukasz Fabianski – –
West Ham first-team departures so far this summer.
Focusing on who could still leave, Bailey continued: “Guido Rodriguez – they’re trying to get him gone and might pay him off.
“Edson Alvarez, the former Ajax player, he has also been told that he can leave.
“Tomas Soucek has also been told he can move – Emerson hasn’t moved yet.
“Essentially, every West Ham player except for Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Wan-Bissaka is available, yet we still haven’t seen many departures.”