Attila Szalai could transfer for a club-record deal of 27 million Euros

English football portal Teamtalk cites goal.com/tr that West Ham United also has an interest in Attila Szalai.

According to the article, as a result of the growing interest, Fenerbahce is asking 23 million Pounds or about 27 million Euros for the defender who has been capped 11 times for Hungary. He has a good chance of joining West Ham if the club manages to qualify for the Champions League. The Londoners are now three points behind the Champions-League-worthy fourth place where currently Chelsea stands. If they achieve their goal, they will plan significant reinforcements for the summer which include signing on with Szalai.

Bosnian player Elvir Bajic has been regarded the most expensive player in Fener's history, signing on with Real Madrid for 21 million Euros in 1999. According to goal.com, in second place is Kosovo's Vedat Muriqi that transferred to Lazio in 2020 for 17.5 million Euros. (Transfermarkt believes the price was 18.5 million.) However, if the news is valid, and Szalai could transfer for 27 million, he could be paid more than both of these players.

Potential clubs that are keen on him are English clubs West Ham, Leicester City, Aston Villa, and Newcastle, as well as Italian clubs Napoli and Lazio. At the same time, another portal, sporx.com listed Sevilla in Spain as well.

It is for sure that selling Szalai could be a great deal for Fener because the club paid Cypriot Apollon 2 million Euros in the winter. The defender signed on with them until 2025 and has become a key player at Fener, playing every minute in 17 games so far and scoring three goals (two in his last two games). The article highlights that the 23-year-old defender can still improve a lot and the fact that he can show himself in the Hungarian national team at the European Championship in the summer could only enhance any interest in him. According to the medium, Szalai's example points out that instead of turning to expensive players with routine, Turkish clubs should look for cheaper, talented young footballers whose subsequent sale could improve their economic situation.

Translated by Vanda Orosz