Ajax have a defensive midfielder in their ranks who West Ham desperately want to sign, and his name is Edson Álvarez. How do we know this? Well, the latest on Álvarez’s West Ham transfer is that a bid of £25 million has now been made. To be perfectly honest, such a bid doesn’t come as a complete surprise. West Ham have been linked with the Mexican midfielder for a number of weeks already and since they haven’t made any big signings this summer, one would assume that the club is determined to get this one over the line.
Additionally, West Ham is lacking a quality defensive midfielder going into the 23/24 Premier League season. After all, they sold Declan Rice to Arsenal for a significant sum of cash. Yet while this has boosted the club’s bank balance, Rice’s departure has left a gaping hole in this position. Therefore, Hammer fans will no doubt be very pleased to see that West Ham is approaching Ajax to get Edson Álvarez signed.
Taking these factors into account, let me get a little more specific about West Ham’s Edson Álvarez transfer fee right now.
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Edson Álvarez’s West Ham Transfer – Market Value, Fees, and Contract Terms
As referenced above, West Ham has officially approached Ajax with an offer of £25 million to secure Álvarez’s services next season. Yet since this transfer fee has only recently been offered, we will likely need to wait to see how this develops. Of course, there are only two options on that front. Ajax will either accept the transfer fee for Álvarez or reject it, and there are a few factors at play behind the scenes that will determine this.
Anyway, I shall leave that for another time. For now, let’s work with the facts, as identified by various media outlets over the last 24/48 hours.
Álvarez’s Market Value
According to numerous estimates provided by trustworthy sources, Álvarez’s market value is around €35 million. And when you consider that Ajax snagged him for a fee of €15 million from Club America back in 2019, this reflects Álvarez’s improvements and status as a top player. However, since estimates put the Mexican defender at a value of €35 million, the current West Ham transfer fee for Álvarez would be deemed as a ‘lowball’ offer.
West Ham’s Transfer Fee
As you’ve already seen above, the transfer fee offered for Edson Álvarez is £25 million. This doesn’t even equate to €30 million, at the time of writing, which is why Ajax will consider this a low offer. Additionally, while Ajax hasn’t made any calls on this current transfer offer as of yet, there are strong speculations that Ajax will want £35 million. But again, we will have to wait and see what materializes over the coming days.
The Contract
Putting the Álvarez transfer fee aside, we do know that West Ham has agreed to a five-year deal with the midfielder. This shows a willingness from both parties to get the deal over the line, so the ball is now in Ajax’s court as to what happens. With that said, given that Ajax wants £35 million while West Ham has offered £25 million, one would assume that a logical compromise would then be £30 million.
