The three Celtic players wanted by West Ham have been named as Arne Engels, Reo Hatate and Michel-Ange Balikwisha.
Reports of West Ham’s interest in an unnamed Celtic trio emerged on Tuesday evening, with ex-Rangers scouting chief Nils Koppen recently moving to the London club.
Newly-relegated from the Premier League, the Hammers have agreed to continue with Nuno Espirito Santo as manager and have already made the £85 million sale of midfielder Mateus Fernandes.
It’s little wonder that Engels and Hatate are of interest, then, but Balikwisha’s name is a much bigger surprise.
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West Ham interested in Arne Engels, Reo Hatate and Michel-Ange Balikwisha.
Hammers.news report that the trio are all of interest to Koppen, whose pre-held knowledge of Scottish football is a factor.
However, the Belgian’s knowledge of his native league is doubtless crucial in his surprise interest in Balikwisha, who starred for Standard Liege and Royal Antwerp prior to his move to Glasgow.
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The club are yet to make an approach for any of the trio, whose respective situations are all completely different.
Engels is seemingly wanted by half of Europe, with Premier League clubs in the mix. A move to the second tier is highly unlikely in theory, but West Ham do have the financial means.
Hatate is also expected to leave, but has voiced his intention to play in a top-five league in Europe. He would be compromising on this ambition by heading to the London Stadium.
In the case of Balikwisha, many Hoops fans would be more than happy to see the forward go. A year on from his £4.5 million addition, links to a club as lucrative as West Ham are a major surprise.
He has endured nothing short of a nightmare at Celtic, playing just 398 minutes last season, despite being fit throughout.
He remained unfancied by Brendan Rodgers, Wilfried Nancy and Martin O’Neill, a damning indictment on his £4.5 million acquisition from Belgium.
Pick one player to sell for ‘£20m’ this summer. Engels or Nygren?
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Kenny Cunningham on Michel-Ange Balikwisha’s pre-season showing for Celtic
Working as a pundit on Premier Sports, Kenny Cunningham said of Balikwisha on his rare appearance in the friendly against Shelbourne: “His approach play has been really good up until a point on the edge of the box.
“He has been showing, getting on the half turn, little kind of combinations.
“That shot there, it didn’t really lack any conviction. But he got the ball just five minutes previously in the box.
“He just has to be a little bit hungrier inside the box for goals, Balikwisha. Very nice on the eye, isn’t he? But he needs that end product.”
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