West Ham join Celtic in race for Fenerbahçe star

West Ham have joined the race to sign Fenerbahce full-back Hasan Ali Kaldirim according to Yahoo Sport sources.

The Hammers are in talks with Kaldirim’s father who is representing him on the deal.

Kaldirim will be available on a free-transfer at the end of the season and is reluctant to renew his contract at Fenerbahce but the East London based outfit could sign him before the end of the current transfer window for a nominal fee.

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic is no stranger to Kaldirim from his time coaching Fenerbahce’s Istanbul rivals Besiktas.

Bilic could however, face competition from Celtic for Kaldirim’s services. The Scottish Premier League leaders have also made the Turkish international an offer.

Turkish Super Lig leaders Besiktas have also entered the race but Fenerbahce are keen on avoiding losing another first-team player to their Istanbul rivals.

Besiktas signed Gokhan Gonul from Fenerbahce over the summer transfer window which sparked a rift between the two clubs.

Fenerbahce have yet to strike a deal over a new contract with Kaldirim but if he is to leave the club a move abroad would be preferred by the player and his representative.

Celtic expressed an interest in Kaldirim over the summer transfer window and have been keeping tabs on the 27-year-old over the first-half of the season.

Kaldirim was born in Germany and is therefore able to play in Europe without a work permit due to being an EU national.

The defender has experience playing outside Turkey and was a youth player at Bundesliga outfit Mainz 05 before joining FC Kaiserslautern.

Kaldırım has 18 international caps for Turkey and has been a first team regular for Fenerbahce this season providing two assists in 26 appearances for the Istanbul giants.

The left-back played an important role in Fenerbahce’s Europa League campaign which saw them top Group A ahead of Manchester United.

Fenerbahce signed Kaldirim from Kayserispor in 2012 and he has gone onto make 132 appearances establishing himself as a first-team player last season.

Kaldirim has lifted the Turkish Super Lig and Turkish Cup trophies since joining Fenerbahce and is a regular call-up to the Turkish national team setup.