Coufal to Leverkusen? The Czech defender spoke about the German club’s earlier interest

Vladimír Coufal spoke about the former interest of the German big club Bayer Leverkusen. The latter was reportedly interested in the Czech defender, especially if Jeremie Frimpong left the club. The Ostrava native also noted that he doesn’t know what will happen if West Ham’s rescue mission doesn’t work out.

Coufal transferred to West Ham from Slavia Prague in October 2020 and thanks to Tomáš Souček, he almost immediately fitted into the Hammers squad.

He later became a member of the starting line-up as well and was one of the important aspects in the Hammers’ chase for the cup. Both in the 2020/21 season and a year later.

In recent months, he, like the whole team, has not been very successful. Currently, the Hammers are fighting for salvation in the English top flight, with only 24 points to their name, which at the moment is good enough for 18th relegation place.

In December, he was even reportedly placed on the list of unwanted players, although in an interview with Sport.cz, the 30-year-old right-back did not confirm any such thing.

“I don’t know where the list came from, nobody said anything like that to my face and I think coach David Moyes would have done it. He called me right after the World Cup and said I was important to him, that it was a mistake that I didn’t play a few games,” Coufal explained.

It should be noted that German big club Bayer Leverkusen was interested in his services. In the interview, the West Ham midfielder also describes how serious the potential transfer from the Isles was.

“There was interest, people from the club went to have a look, there were some negotiations. But it was a standard market enquiry, nothing to do with me being on the way out. At Bayer they were discussing whether Jeremie Frimpong would leave, I didn’t have that kind of workload at the time.

Of course I was attracted 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 backwards. Not in terms of the team, but in terms of the competition, the Premier League is the best in my eyes. So I preferred to stay in the Islands. I’m glad I won a place in the West Ham squad,” he says.

Coufal has played 96 games in a West Ham jersey since his arrival across all competitions, registering 16 assists. But now he has to prepare for the national team meeting. The Czech Republic face a tough match against Poland on Friday as part of their Euro 2024 qualification.

Sources:: Sport.cz, Premier League, Transfermarkt