Dharmesh Sheth has dropped an update on reported West Ham United transfer target Hans Vanaken.
What’s the talk?
In a recent post on Twitter, the Sky Sports journalist revealed that, despite it being reported that Club Brugge KV had rejected David Moyes’ opening €10m (£8.5m) bid for the attacking midfielder, with there being a feeling that the 29-year-old is very much open to a switch to east London this summer, West Ham remain in talks with the Jupiler Pro League side regarding a deal.
Regarding the Irons’ move for the Belgium international, Sheth said: “Ongoing talks over Club Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken.”
Imagine him & Bowen
Considering just how deadly a forward-thinking midfielder Vanaken has proven himself to be during his time at Brugge, the prospect of the 29-year-old lining up alongside Jarrod Bowen in the Hammers’ attacking quartet next season is sure to be an incredibly tantalising one for Moyes and the London Stadium faithful alike.
Indeed, over his 39 Jupiler Pro League appearances last season, the £14.4m-rated talent was in sensational form, scoring 11 goals, providing nine assists and creating ten big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 1.8 shots, making 1.6 key passes and completing 0.6 dribbles per game.
These returns saw the £48k-per-week midfielder who Onur Kaya dubbed “extraordinary” average a quite breathtaking SofaScore match rating of 7.31, ranking him as the ninth-best performer in the top flight of Belgian football last time out.
For comparison, over Bowen’s 36 Premier League fixtures in 2021/22, the £37.8m-rated winger was in similarly spectacular form, bagging 12 goals, registering ten assists and creating nine big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.2 shots, making 1.2 key passes and completing 1.4 dribbles per game.
These metrics saw the £96k-per-week attacker who Stephen Killen dubbed “unreal” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.09, ranking him as Moyes’ second-best player in the top flight of English football last season.
As such, the prospect of this duo linking up behind either Michail Antonio or Gianluca Scamacca in the Hammers’ attacking four next season is sure to strike fear into Premier League defences up and down the country – leading us to believe that the Irons should do everything they can to convince Brugge to part with Vanaken this summer with an unreal partnership potentially on the horizon.
