Hammarby have rejected offers in the region of £2 million for Nathaniel Adjei with interest from the likes of Leeds United, Celtic and Rangers expected to drive up the defender’s price-tag.
That is according to Ola Gustavsson, an experienced reporter in Swedish football and a man who feels that Hammarby have taken the ‘logical’ decision in the face of rising interest in their highly-rated centre-half.
Rangers and Old Firm rivals Celtic have both sent scouts to watch Nathaniel Adjei in action, per Sky Sports. There is also interest from Leeds United, Sunderland, and a host of other clubs both in and outside of England.
Hammarby, then, were never going to have their arms’ twisted by offers in the region of £2 million. Not with the club holding out for double, and seemingly confident of getting it with Adjei’s price-tag rising as quickly as his reputation.
Rangers in Nathaniel Adjei race
“The Stockholmers have also been offered over 25 million (Swedish Krone) for Nathaniel Adjei, who ended the season so excitingly,” Gustavsson tells Fotboll Direkt.
“But the price is a good distance from expectations considering how young and ‘developable’ the Ghanaian is.”
Hammarby, he adds, are holding out for around £4 million.
“(Their reluctance to sell Adjei on the cheap is) completely logical considering the interest I previously explained,” Gustavsson adds. “(Adjei is wanted by) Standard Liege, KAA Gent and Anderlecht.
“Add to that Leeds, Celtic and Rangers.”
Adjei, just 21 years of age, is physically imposing at 6ft 1ins but also very comfortable with the ball at his feet, as you might expect given links with possession-heavy head coaches such as Philippe Clement, Brendan Rodgers and Daniel Farke at Leeds.
While favouring his right foot – something which could make Adjei a tidy long-term replacement for the ageing Connor Goldson – the Ghanaian has proven himself more than capable on the opposite side too, thriving as a left-sided centre-half at Hammarby.
‘Not out of the question’
“We feel quite safe with the squad we have. There is an awful lot more to this squad,” sporting director Markus Hjelmberg told Fotbollskanalen shortly before confirming that, in contrast to some claims, there are no talks scheduled with Leeds.
“It’s an incredibly young squad so the players will probably get better if we do a good job. The team will be better next year if we can keep the players we want. That is the ambition. We have no ambition to make any major changes this window.
“(But) it is probably not completely out of the question that there will be a sale this winter. That’s how it is.
“There have been offers for several of our players that we have turned down. We should not be ashamed to charge good money for our young talented players.”
The Glasgow giants appear to be prioritising a left-back this month, Owen Beck, Josh Doig, Kai Wagner and Fredrik Oppegard of Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven mentioned.
Reports linking Steven Alzate and Emmanuel Dennis with a mid-season switch to Glasgow have, however, been played down.
