West Ham United are ‘leading the race’ to sign FC Utrecht left-back Souffian El Karouani, according to Ekrem Konur.
After failing to secure a victory across six consecutive Premier League outings, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team are now at serious risk of drifting away from safety.
That worrying run was prolonged on Saturday by a heavy 3–0 loss at Manchester City. This result further exposed the depth of the challenges facing Nuno as the Hammers approach Christmas rooted inside the bottom three.
At the Etihad Stadium, Erling Haaland struck twice while Tijjani Reijnders also found the net, as the Cityzens comfortably beat West Ham.
With the second half of the campaign approaching, the club are now pushing to strengthen the squad, particularly at the back after conceding 35 goals, as preparations begin for a crucial fight to preserve their top-flight status.
West Ham have now set their sights on highly rated Utrecht left-back El Karouan, according to Konur, who claims that the 25-year-old is attracting interest from several clubs across Europe, including the Hammers.
It appears the Hammers are set to steal a march on their rivals, as the journalist adds that the East London outfit are now ‘leading the race’ to sign the Netherlands-born Moroccan international ahead of other interested clubs.
El Karouani to West Ham
West Ham will now need to accelerate efforts to wrap up the deal for El Karouani, who is valued at £13m by Transfermarkt, as the report adds that several clubs, including Marseille, FC Porto, PSV Eindhoven, AZ Alkmaar, Ajax, Brighton, Fulham, Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt, Napoli and Lazio, are also keen on the left-back.
El Karouani himself may already have consented to a move to the London Stadium, following his post-match interview with RTV Utrecht after Utrecht’s 2-1 loss to PSV on Sunday.
When asked about the Hammers, he said, ‘It could very well be. It’s a great club. My agent is working for me. I’ll wait and see. Incidentally, I look back on a wonderful year in Utrecht.’
With three goals and 15 assists in all competitions for Ron Jans’ side this season, El Karouani possesses qualities that would be pivotal to West Ham’s defensive solidity and attacking threat should he join.
With his contract at the Stadion Galgenwaard entering its final year, the Hammers could be in a position to secure a reduced-fee move to bring the full-back to the London Stadium.
