Vladimir Coufal makes really honest admission about failed West Ham exit in January

Vladimir Coufal has admitted that there were talks about a potential move from West Ham to Bayer Leverkusen in the January transfer window.

West Ham United right-back Vladimir Coufal played only two minutes of Premier League action under David Moyes from October 16th up until the World Cup break in mid-November.

West Ham duo Ben Johnson and Thilo Keher were preferred to the 35-capped Czech Republic International, and there were strong rumours that the 30-year-old could leave the London Stadium.

Coufal was heavily linked with a move from the Hammers to German side Bayer Leverkusen in the January transfer window (Sky Deutschland).

And the 30-year-old admitted at the time that he would be prepared to leave West Ham, if more regular game-time was not forthcoming.

Now the former Slavia Prague defender, signed for £4.2 million in October 2020 (The Athletic), has gone a step further by suggesting that informal talks were actually held about a Hammers exit…

Vladimir Coufal makes admission about potential January West Ham exit
The 30-year-old has regressed badly over the past 12 months, in spite of a recent resurgence in form.

There is every chance that Moyes will be looking to bring in an upgrade on the Czech right-back in the summer transfer window.

And when speaking to Sport.cz, Coufal admitted that Leverkusen sent officials to meet with him about a potential transfer to the Bundesliga:

“There was interest, people from the club came to see, some negotiations took place. But it was a standard market demand, nothing to do with me leaving. At Bayer, they were deciding whether Jeremie Frimpong would leave, I wasn’t that busy at the time. Of course, it attracted me in a way, Leverkusen is an elite German team, there are two Czech boys in the squad, they play interesting football. But maybe it would be a step back. Not from a team point of view, but from a competition point of view, the Premier League is the best in my eyes. So, I preferred to stay in England. I’m happy to have earned a place in the West Ham squad.”

It really would not surprise me one little bit if the 30-year-old was moved on from the London Stadium at the end of this season.

In the modern game, full-backs are expected to contribute at both ends of the pitch and usually have pace and power in abundance.

Vladimir Coufal obviously doesn’t fit into that category, and West Ham definitely need to make a big upgrade in the right-back department before the start of next season.

The Czech Republic international is actually out of contract with the Hammers in the summer, although the club do have an option to extend his deal by a further two years. It will be really interesting to see what happens with Vlad this summer.