West Ham ‘Interested’ In Signing 24 y/o Defender Who Has Been ‘Released From Training’ To Hold Transfer Talks

West Ham target Oumar Solet has been “released from training” by Red Bull Salzburg to hold discussions about a transfer away from the Austrian side, according to the Salzburger Nachrichten.

The newspaper mentions the Hammers as one of the clubs that are “interested” in the 24-year-old, who looks set to leave his current team before the window closes later this month.

Solet has less than a year left on his contract, and there are reports that he could be sold by Salzburg for less than €10m (£8.4m) over the coming weeks.



It remains to be seen whether Julen Lopetegui’s side will step up their pursuit of the defender by tabling a formal bid.

Salzburg have held talks with another club about Solet

Earlier this week, journalist Fabrizio Romano revealed that Villarreal have begun discussions about signing the Frenchman, with an initial offer of around €8.5m (£7.16m) having been tabled.

There has been no indication that the proposal has been accepted by Salzburg, though, which suggests other teams could still hijack the move. In addition to West Ham, Manchester United have been linked with the player over the past couple of months.

West Ham are still hopeful of recruiting a different centre-back

The Irons did have an offer accepted by Nice for Jean-Clair Todibo. However, the player is not currently interested in making the switch to the London Stadium.

Todibo is said to prefer a transfer to Serie A giants Juventus but the Bianconeri have failed to match the bid lodged by West Ham.

If negotiations between Nice and Juve do collapse, it could present an opportunity for the London club to revive the deal. In the meantime, it appears they have been looking at other centre-halves, including Solet.

Find out who is in West Ham’s first-team squad for 2024/2025 season here

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David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.