West Ham: Moyes has sent exit 'message' to 30k-a-week star | OneFootball

West Ham United and Czech Republic full-black Vladimír Coufal could see his days at the London Stadium numbered having seemingly fallen out of favour with David Moyes, according to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.

The right-back joined the east London side in the autumn of 2020, for a fee of £5.4m from Slavia Prague.

According to Sky Sports Germany reporter Marlon Irlbacher, West Ham and Bayer Leverkusen are in talks for the potential transfer of Coufal to the Bundesliga side, with the right-back said to be satisfied with a potential move to Germany.

As well as this, 90min have stated that the Irons are looking at a potential deal for Celtic and Croatia full-back Josip Juranović, who journalist Dean Jones has said would be a “really good replacement” for the 30-year-old in an interview with GiveMeSport, seemingly confirming that the club are braced for the 34-time Czech Republic international’s departure in the January transfer window.

And speaking to Football Club in the Czech Republic, the £30k-per-week star has suggested that a move away from east London could be on the cards if his playing time doesn’t increase after the World Cup, stating: “I don’t want to sit on the bench here as much as in the autumn.”

Sheth believes that Coufal will have got the hint that he is no longer part of Moyes’ first-team plans at West Ham, with Thilo Kehrer chosen to play out-of-position ahead of the right-back this season.

What has Sheth said about West Ham and Coufal?

Sheth told GiveMeSport: “If you look at the stats, he’s [Coufal] made seven Premier League starts this season.

“The likes of Ben Johnson have started ahead of him at right-back.

“I think more significantly when centre-back Nayef Aguerd was injured in pre-season, the club signed Thilo Kehrer.

“I think he was predominantly brought in as a central defender, but what has transpired is that he’s ended up playing right-back.

“If that’s not a message to Vladimír Coufal that he’s not part of the plans, then I don’t know what is.”

Has Coufal been a good addition for West Ham?

Over the course of his three seasons at West Ham, Coufal has been a solid and consistent citizen for Moyes, as shown by the fact that the Scotsman has trusted him to play on 87 separate occasions since his 2020 arrival, providing 12 assists in that time, according to Transfermarkt.

The Ostrava-born star was especially impressive in his first season at the club, having achieved a Sofascore rating of 7.01 for his performances in the Premier League during the 2020/21 campaign, before achieving a score of 6.77 the following year.

However, at the age of 30, Moyes may feel that now is the time to move Coufal out of the London Stadium and bring in some fresh blood in January, as the club look for a top-half Premier League finish and a tilt at the Europa Conference League title in the new year.