West Ham transfer target Koni De Winter has expressed an interest in playing for a Premier League club.

The 22-year-old is currently with Genoa in Italy but, when asked by the I Paper whether he would consider a move to England in the future, he replied:

“I just want to come as far as possible. It’s not that I say I have to play Premier League or I have to play Bundesliga, I just want the best, the best for myself.

“The Premier League is one of the best competitions in the world, so yes, I hear some nice things.”

De Winter has been likened to Kompany

The Belgian international also said that he has been constantly compared to former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany throughout his career so far.

Interestingly enough, De Winter is managed by one of Kompany’s former teammates, Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira, who is said to be helping his development.

West Ham are one of three clubs pursuing the centre-back

The I Paper claim that the Hammers, Wolves and Leeds are the three teams who are keeping close tabs on De Winter.

Considering that head coach Graham Potter has very limited options in the middle of defence, that isn’t a surprise.

Potter currently has just three senior centre-halves at his disposal: Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Todibo has already been linked with a move away from the London Stadium despite only joining from Nice last summer, with Manchester United having been credited with an interest.

It means that new head of recruitment Kyle Macauley will be scouring the market for potential solutions and it appears that De Winter is one of the players under consideration.

Read our exclusive interview with ex-Premier League official Peter Walton who discusses why Chelsea’s equaliser against West Ham stood