West Ham United could be set to dodge a financial bullet if they are to turn down the opportunity to sign loanee midfielder Alex Kral.
Up to this point in the season, the Czech international has failed to make much of an impact at all in England, playing just one minute of Premier League football all season long.
No doubt taking that into account, it looks as though David Moyes will not turn the loan into a permanent deal at the end of the campaign, with recent reports claiming the club have already made up their mind about the player.
This is looking like a good move because, if the club did want to sign him, they would reportedly have to pay £12m, with £7m in add-ons – as this fee was agreed when he joined on loan.
According to the CIES Football Observatory – a tool that uses an econometric approach to assess the transfer value of professional footballers on a scientific basis – Kral’s alleged worth is actually just €7m to €10m (which is as little as £5.8m).
TIF thoughts on Alex Kral and West Ham…
Across all competitions this season for the Hammers, Kral has played just 255 minutes of football – spread across six appearances. It’s safe to say, the likes of Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek have kept him firmly out of contention.
While those two are obvious favourites for Moyes, the Czech midfielder would have still hoped to have maybe edged ahead of someone like Mark Noble in the pecking order – who is set to retire at the end of the season.
Should West Ham sign Alex Kral on a permanent basis?
Yes
No
Unable to do that, it’s clear to see that Kral has simply not proved his worth to the club. And so, taking everything into account, if West Ham were to go and sign him (for a fee which could be as much as £19m all up), it would not look like a very good piece of business at all.
In other news: Ex hints Moyes may have found in-house Kral & Noble replacement for West Ham