West Ham have beaten Manchester United to the signing of Noussair Mazraoui after agreeing an initial £13.5m fee with Bayern Munich for the Moroccan defender, according to a report.
The fee could rise to around £16.5m, say Sky Sport Germany, adding that the 26-year-old is in talks on personal terms.
Widespread reports say that Manchester United was willing to sign Mazraoui in a deal that would have brought him together with Erik ten Hag, his manager during his time at Ajax Dutch.
🚨⚒️ EXCL | IFC Bayern and West Ham have reached an agreement to sign Noussair #Mazraoui!
▫️Transfer fee: €15,5 + €4m add-ons
▫️There is also a verbal agreement between #WHUFC and Mazraoui…But it’s not a done deal as important financial information about… pic.twitter.com/cCjSqPkkiA
– Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) July 25, 2024
Man United ‘want to transfer Mazraoui’
News of Mazraoui’s transfer to West Ham comes less than 24 hours after he was linked with United.
The Guardian reported on Wednesday that Ten Hag saw the defender as a potential replacement for winger Antony, although the outlet added that the move would depend on the sale of Aaron Wan-Bissaka for around £21m.
Antony remains United’s second most expensive player, but has failed to match the £86m Ten Hag paid Ajax for the Brazil international in August 2022, having scored just one Premier League goal last season.
Mazraoui Bayern statistics
Born in the Netherlands, Mazraoui joined Ajax’s youth academy and made his debut for the Amsterdammers in 2018.
He helped Ten Hag win the Eredivisie three times between 2019 and 2022 as part of collecting six trophies, as well as picking up the club’s Talent of the Year award in his first campaign and Goal of the Season honors for 2021/22.
A move to Bayern on a free transfer followed in May 2022, scoring once and providing eight assists in 55 games for Germany’s most successful club.
A key player in the Morocco team that reached the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, his attacking style has been compared to England’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Mazraoui is more versatile than Liverpool’s wide player, being deployed on both sides and in midfield.
“Noussair is a very forward-looking player on the right,” said Bayern’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic when the signing was announced. “We also like his attitude.”
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