Type the name ‘Alex Kral’ on Twitter and we guarantee if you scroll far enough you’ll find something linking him with a move to every Premier League club at one point or another.
Spartak Moscow midfielder is rumored to be courting more than his share of the fare from England’s elite teams including West Ham, Wolves, Leeds and Newcastle, with a £ 30million valuation doing little to deter potential suitors from prosecution.
So we know who wants to buy it, now to the next question. Who the hell is he?
High fees aren’t new to modern football, but £ 30million for a player who – let’s be honest – you’ve never heard of seems a little crazy. Here’s everything you need to know about the man who may be heading to these shores in the near future.
Transfer fees in football are a bit crazy and you can end up paying double for a player after just a few impressive performances but for a player’s value to go from £ 800,000 to £ 30million in just two years , that’s pretty impressive.
Slavia Prague were the lucky club that captured Kral from compatriot Teplice in January 2019, although they sold him after just eight months to the club, with Spartak Moscow paying £ 12million for the midfielder.
same it is a pretty hefty mark-up in such a short time, but only 18 months later and it looks like they should more than double their investment.
The 22-year-old has made a name for himself as a midfielder who can work box-to-box or sit up and protect the back line.
However, he wasn’t always a midfielder – he started out as a defender and was pushed into the midfield when his obvious footballing ability started to become clear.
Given that he can play a number of different roles in midfield and could likely return to defense if absolutely necessary, Kral could be a great buy for a team looking to add both quality and depth to their team.
Okay, this is getting a little more interesting.
More often than not in football it’s not about what you know but who you know, and West Ham will be quietly confident landing the Czech international given their relationship with those at the club.
Kral is represented by an agency called K2K, the same company that helped negotiate a deal with West Ham that saw Vladimír Coufal arrive at London Stadium last year.
Not only that, the Hammers have a strong Czech contingency at the club with the aforementioned Coufal and Tomas Soucek, so they could be in a good position if they choose to pursue the youngster.
Having only joined Spartak Moscow in September 2019, Kral was immediately linked with a move to the Premier League after a strong performance by the Czech Republic against England.
Burnley would have been interesting in the midfield, however, having represented his former club Slavia Prague at the start of the 2019/20 campaign before moving to Spartak Moscow, Kral had already played for two clubs before the interest of the Clarets, meaning that he was not eligible to play for a third team in a season.
Whether that’s what cooled Burnley’s interest or not, we’ll never know. Still, some decent information.
In 2017, Kral was part of the Czech Republic squad that traveled to Georgia for the finals of the European Under-19 Championship.
His stellar performances saw him be named to the tournament squad alongside Ryan Sessegnon, Mason Mount and Diogo Dalot.
The Czech Republic advanced to the group stage after finishing second in Group A behind Portugal, although they were beaten 1-0 by eventual winners England in the semi-final.
