Funnily enough, Celta Vigo’s Spain international Oscar Mingueza has already made his feelings about Premier League pursuers West Ham United pretty clear.
And, as head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay approves West Ham’s pursuit of the former Barcelona starlet, those in charge at the London Stadium will be hoping that Mingueza feels the same now as he did back in November 2023.
The early signs certainly look good.
Hammers News‘ football correspondent Graeme Bailey told TBR Football earlier this week that Mingueza has been identified as one of West Ham United’s top defensive targets, alongside Slavia Prague left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf.
Early talks have taken place with Celta Vigo.
And, with Bailey adding that Mingueza is open to a fresh start in the Premier League, a man who opted to commit his future to the Galician outfit the last time West Ham came calling may be ripe for convincing two years later.
Oscar Mingueza called West Ham United a ‘great team’
It was Estadio Deportivo, at the time, who reported that West Ham were considering a bid for the versatile full-back.
Mingueza put that speculation aside, however, albeit while keeping the door ajar for a future move later down the line. A future which, as of this week, became the present.
“I don’t have anything planned and no one has contacted me,” Mingueza told Football Espana back in November 2023. “I’m focused on Celta.
“[But] West Ham are a great team. A very nice team.”
Hammers News have now been informed that Mingueza scored very highly during the club’s more data-driven, analytical approach to recruitment.
A former Swansea, Brighton and Chelsea scout who helped bring the likes of Moises Caicedo, Leonardo Trossard, Marc Cucurella and Robert Sanchez to the South Coast, Macaulay has given Mingueza the green light.
With Diouf expected to become the club’s first-choice left-back – the Senegal star will reportedly travel to London this weekend before undergoing a medical – Mingueza will challenge Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the right while bringing competition and versatility to Graham Potter’s backline.
The Spain international was one of the stand-out performers as Celta secured a return to European football for the first time since a semi-final defeat by Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United in 2017.
La Liga expert Miguel Quintana higlights Mingueza’s pros and cons
Two-footed and a superb technician, Mingueza scored four goals while providing six assists from full-back last term.
And, as James Ward-Prowse awaits his first free-kick goal as a West Ham player, the one-time Copa del Rey champion showcased his own set-piece talents with a thumping long-range hit against Villarreal.
“I’ve always considered Mingueza a technically gifted player. But, with the freedom he’s being given at Celta, he is stepping into positions where you don’t expect him to get to,” La Liga expert Miguel Quintana tells FotMob.
“Whether playing as a centre back or a right-sided or left-sided wingback, he can appear in the final third without any problem and I think that element of surprise helps him a lot.”
Quintana does have reservations about Mingueza’s defensive talents, however.
“[His] biggest vulnerabilities are on the defensive side. He’s a player who struggles to shift his body and defend one-v-ones, who sometimes has a lapse in concentration, who isn’t forceful in defensive duels, and who attacks much better than he defends,” the Spanish football expert explains.
“If he does leave Celta in the summer, he needs to go to a team that gives him this liberty to move around and arrive in unexpected positions for a wingback.”
Mingueza reportedly has a £17 million release clause in his contract.
If triggered, Barcelona will bank £15 million from West Ham in the space of just a few weeks. Barca are due 50 per cent of Mingueza’s fee, and have already brought in a significant sum after Jean-Clair Todibo joined the Hammers on a full-time basis.
