West Ham find Rice replacement as Moyes’ men FINALLY do a deal
Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk
- 5 Aug 2023 10:00 BST
- 3 min read
West Ham United have found their Declan Rice replacement, with former Chelsea target Edson Alvarez having agreed a multi-year contract with David Moyes’ side, according to Fabrizio Romano.
With personal terms agreed between the player and West Ham, it is up to Ajax to accept a formal offer.
According to the transfer market expert, negotiations over a transfer for the 25-year-old will take place over the weekend.
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A year ago, Alvarez enjoyed concrete interest from Chelsea, but even an offer of €63.25 million could not convince the team from Amsterdam to sell.
Chelsea returned in January with an offer of €50 million, but even that could not change Ajax's mind.
It is believed that club and player have made certain agreements about a summer transfer.
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Alvarez said he was able to refocus after his transfer to Chelsea fell through because “Ajax is also a big club”.
He was quoted by Voetbal International at the time as having added: “I also believe that everything in life happens for a reason.
“If you now see Chelsea's season, for example, with all kinds of problems, then perhaps it should have been that way. And this season, however difficult, has also been instructive for me.”
With a transfer of around €35m, Ajax will have to hand over an amount of around €7m to CF America, which at the time had stipulated a resale percentage during the negotiations.
With such a transfer, Alvarez becomes the second most expensive Mexican ever, following only Hirving Lozano who made the switch from PSV to Napoli in 2019 for €45m.
According to the FootballTransfers algorithm, the Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of the midfielder is €26.5 million, suggesting that Ajax, who have also seen star players Jurrien Timber and Dusan Tadic depart, are getting the better of this deal.
Alvarez gets West Ham’s transfer window going
Alvarez will become West Ham’s first signing of the summer, with the Premier League club having been frustrated in their efforts to sign players.
Moyes’ side have been quoted what they believe to be inflated prices on players because of the money they received for Declan Rice’s record move to Arsenal for around €116m (£100m) upfront.
West Ham also hope to sign Scott McTominay and Harry Maguire from Man Utd in the coming days.
