West Ham waiting on versatile Israel international who ‘belongs at the top’
Reports in the Israeli media claim West Ham United are monitoring Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Dor Peretz with a view to signing him on a free contract this summer.
The 26-year-old is still involved with the Israeli Premier League side who have three games left of their campaign. He will then fall out of contract and looks set to leave Bloomfield Stadium. The Israel international has been with the club his entire professional career save for a 2017 loan stint with Hapoel Haifa.
Having come up through the club’s youth ranks, he made his senior debut in August 2014. And he has now made 150 league appearances for The yellow ones.
But it seems as though a switch of clubs is now on the cards, with CSKA Moscow also said to be keen. The Russian outfit are said to have offered him a deal worth €1million a year to join this summer.
However, other clubs look set to enter the race and the Hammers have a history of signing Israeli players. Yossi Benayoun, Eyal Berkovic, Yaniv Katan and Tal Ben Haim have all featured for the East End club.
And Peretz might soon follow a similar path to his compatriots. Sport1 in Israel are reporting that the Premier League side are keeping their powder dry until Maccabi’s season is over.
And the player has scheduled a meeting with his club about his future.
Peretz a summer bargain
With finances tight across the football world, any free agent is certain to be in demand. There is still a chance he will pen a new deal with Maccabi but the Hammers would net a versatile player if they do land him.
Peretz is primarily a defensive midfielder but he does have an eye for goal. He has 10 goals and nine assist in all competitions this term, and featured in both the Champions League and Europa League in 2020-2021.
The talented schemer has been capped 20 times by Israel. His former national boss Andi Herzog stated that Peretz ‘belongs at the top’. Whether that is at the London Stadium only time will tell but most things point to a summer move.
One negative would be the fact he seems a similar player to Declan Rice. That would mean he could spend plenty of time on the bench and that might not be acceptable to an experienced international.
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