West Ham United were one of four Premier League teams who sent scouts to watch Olympiakos left back Leonardo Koutris play for Greece on Saturday, according to TEAMtalk.
The outlet claims that representatives of the Hammers, Everton, Leicester City and Newcastle United were all in attendance to watch the 23-year-old play for his country in their 2-0 win over Liechtenstein.
All four teams are set to check in with Koutris again when the Greeks take on Bosnia & Herzegovina on Tuesday, with the full back appearing to be poised for a summer exit.
Italian side Genoa are said to have failed with a £5million bid for the player in January, with the Greek giants looking to earn nearly double that.
OPINION
Koutris seems like an ideal signing for West Ham this summer. It’s no secret that Manuel Pellegrini struggled to find the answer at left back earlier in the season, before England international Aaron Cresswell locked down the position over the Christmas period. However, back up Arthur Masuaku doesn’t appear to have much of a future in East London, meaning that another left back will likely have to be brought in this summer. Koutris seems like the perfect candidate to provide Cresswell with stiff competition at the position. The 23-year-old has excelled in Athens and really does seem like he’s ready to make the step up to the Premier League. It’s likely that he would become the Hammers’ first choice left back in short order, while his youth makes him a terrific long term purchase as well. Overall, what’s not to like? Now we simply have to wait and see if West Ham can win the transfer battle for him.
