West Ham United are keeping close tabs on Rangers centre-back Emmanuel Fernandez ahead of a possible summer move to the London Stadium, as per Ekrem Konur.
Fernandez completed a move to Ibrox Stadium last summer after arriving from Peterborough United, with the transfer completed for a modest fee, significantly below his current £7.8m Transfermarkt valuation.
Opportunities were limited early on, with the defender starting just one of the opening 11 Scottish Premiership fixtures and even missing out on the matchday squad in six of those encounters. Since then, however, the Nigerian powerhouse has established himself as a regular, featuring in 17 of the club’s most recent 18 league matches and beginning 16 of them, becoming one of the first selections for Danny Röhl.
The 24-year-old has delivered commanding displays at both ends of the pitch in league action, netting five goals while also succeeding in 69% of his defensive duels, which has piqued the interest of the Hammers.
According to Konur, West Ham are looking to add more than one new centre-back to their squad next season and have earmarked Fernandez as a target.
The East Londoners are now closely monitoring the 6ft 5in colossus ahead of a possible summer swoop to the London Stadium, as per the report.
West Ham could sign Fernandez at an affordable price
While there are speculations over his possible valuation, considering he has three years left in his contract, Nuno Espírito Santo’s side could still sign him at a bargain fee, as Konur claims that Rangers are willing to sanction the 24-year-old’s departure at an affordable price.
West Ham temporarily moved out of the relegation zone on Saturday after their 1-1 draw against Manchester City, where they showed a resilient performance, but Nottingham Forest’s 0-0 draw with Fulham saw them return to 18th place.
However, they remain very hopeful of survival, not just because of their impressive performances where they’ve lost just one of their last six Premier League games, but also the poor but favourable results from other survival hopefuls that have now left them sitting just two points behind 15th-placed Leeds United and one behind Tottenham Hotspur in 16th place.
The Hammers will hope to return to winning ways when they travel to Villa Park on Sunday to face Aston Villa, a side they have not beaten since March 2023, as they continue their fight for Premier League survival.
