West Ham United open talks for Aaron Wan-Bissaka amid £15 million valuation | OneFootball

West Ham United have “opened talks” over a move for Aaron Wan-Bissaka with Manchester United demanding a minimum of £15 million to sign the right-back.

The former Crystal Palace man fell down the ranks at Old Trafford last season with Erik ten Hag clearly preferring Diogo Dalot as his first-choice full-back on the right.

However, the injury crisis which plagued the United dressing room was felt most acutely at left-back, with both Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia ruled out for long periods of the year. This often forced Ten Hag to field one of Wan-Bissaka or Dalot at left-back to deputise for their injured team-mates.

As a result, Wan-Bissaka ended the season with thirty appearances in all competition, despite suffering his own injuries towards the start of the year.

The 26-year-old’s most impressive performance came in the final game of the season – the emphatic FA Cup final triumph over local rivals Manchester City. Deployed at right-back, with Dalot on the opposite flank, Wan-Bissaka was excellent, helping to effectively shut down the tricky Jeremy Doku (only for an Andre Onana mistake to allow the Belgian to score with a speculative long-range effort).

It was a timely reminder of how, in the right circumstances, Wan-Bissaka still retains a lot of value as a full-back.

However, with United’s coaching staff hoping to see the return of both Shaw and Malacia in pre-season, as well as the continued form of Dalot, Wan-Bissaka’s role is likely to be reduced next season.

Furthermore, the 26-year-old only has one year remaining on his deal. This means he is able to talk to prospective new clubs about a free transfer next summer from January.

As such, this summer represents United’s last chance to salvage a transfer fee for a player unlikely to play a major role in Ten Hag’s squad this season.

This, therefore, explains why Old Trafford officials are willing to sanction a departure for Wan-Bissaka at the surprisingly cheap price of £15 million – a transfer fee which appears to have put West Ham on red-alert.

Ben Jacobs, a correspondent for TalkSPORT and Give Me Sport, reveals on X that West Ham have “opened talks to sign” the full-back with United wanting a “minimum of £15 million.”

From the Red Devils perspective, they have been linked with a move for Fenerbahçe full-back Ferdi Kadioglu with a £21 million bid thought to have been submitted last week.

The Turkish international, who enjoyed a stellar European Championship, is a technically gifted footballer, capable of playing full-back on either flank. He would, therefore, represent an upgrade on Wan-Bissaka as he would be more suited to Ten Hag’s possession-based style, as well as providing better cover for left-back, in the (likely) event Shaw and Malacia face relapses in their recoveries.

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