West Ham United have reportedly reinitiated talks with the camp of Marseille defender Duje Caleta-Car over a potential transfer this summer.
According to a report from Get French Football News, West Ham United have reopened negotiations with Marseille and Croatia centre-back Duje Caleta-Car as David Moyes seeks reinforcements for his defence.
Caleta-Car came through the youth ranks at Croatian outfit HNK Sibenik and stints with FC Pasching and FC Liefering before he ended up at RB Salzburg in January 2015. It was here that the centre-back burst onto the scenes, enjoying an impressive three-and-a-half-year spell during which he made over 100 appearances.
Caleta-Car signed for Marseille in the summer of 2018 and has gradually grown into a mainstay at the heart of the defence for the French club, making 91 appearances, in which he has three goals and two assists. The 24-year-old is also a full international for Croatia and has accumulated 16 caps already.
Caleta-Car’s rise to prominence in France has not gone unnoticed, with Liverpool having been linked with him back in January while there had been reports of interest from Tottenham as recent as last month. Now, it is West Ham United that have been linked with a move for the 24-year-old Croatian international.
West Ham are in a tricky position with regard to their defence as Fabian Balbuena has been released while Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson, whose transfer was made permanent, are all aged above thirty. Moyes, thus, has been left with just Issa Diop as the younger option at the back and is in desperate need of infusing some fresh blood into the defensive unit.
To that end, West Ham United have been linked with a host of names, including Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma, who is said to be the priority target. In addition, there have been talks of an offer for Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenkovic as well.
Now, Caleta-Car, too, has emerged as an option for West Ham. The report claims that the east London giants have reopened talks with the Croatian international, indicating that the 24-year-old has been on the club’s radars previously, and negotiations have been held, albeit to no success.
While talks with Caleta-Car are back on, West Ham are yet to make any approach to his club, Olympique Marseille, let alone submitting an offer. So, it remains to be seen if these informal negotiations lead to something substantial in the coming days or whether Moyes & co. prioritise a move for a different target altogether.
