West Ham United are reportedly pushing to wrap up a deal for Alaves defender Guillermo Maripan in the next two weeks, but are some way off his valuation.
The 25-year-old has established himself as a key figure for the Spanish outfit, making 25 appearances this past season across La Liga and the Copa del Rey to prove his quality.
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In addition, he has 13 caps for Chile to his name, and he will hope to add to that tally next month having been selected in the Copa America squad.
According to Read West Ham, the Hammers want to secure a deal for him before he starts that tournament, which kicks off on June 14.
However, there could be a major obstacle still in their way as it’s claimed that while Alaves want £21m for the defensive ace, West Ham’s current offer stands at just £10m.
In turn, that’s a significant gap to negotiate in order to reach a compromise, and so it remains to be seen if a deal can be done in the proposed window.
If not, West Ham may well have to wait late into the summer to try and announce Maripan’s signing, or perhaps that could be a decisive blow as they may turn to alternative targets instead to strengthen Manuel Pellegrini’s backline.
Having conceded 55 goals in their 38 Premier League games last season, giving them the worst defensive record of the top 10 sides in the standings, it’s clearly an area in which they need to improve.
