{"id":43949,"date":"2026-03-02T11:23:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/02\/42-assist-defender-wanted-by-west-ham-and-leeds-as-summer-race-heats-up\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T11:23:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:23:51","slug":"42-assist-defender-wanted-by-west-ham-and-leeds-as-summer-race-heats-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/02\/42-assist-defender-wanted-by-west-ham-and-leeds-as-summer-race-heats-up\/","title":{"rendered":"42-assist defender wanted by West Ham and Leeds as summer race heats up"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/02\/42-assist-defender-wanted-by-west-ham-and-leeds-as-summer-race-heats-up\/#Sufian_El_Karouani_is_wanted_by_West_Ham_and_Leeds\" >Sufian El Karouani is wanted by West Ham and Leeds<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/02\/42-assist-defender-wanted-by-west-ham-and-leeds-as-summer-race-heats-up\/#Who_is_Sufian_El_Qalani\" >Who is Sufian El Qalani?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"citation-168 citation-end-168\">West Ham United and Leeds United are said to have a &#8220;concrete interest&#8221; in FC Utrecht standout Soufian El Carouani as the race to sign the Moroccan international intensifies ahead of the summer transfer window.<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"citation-167\">According to <\/span><i data-path-to-node=\"0\" data-index-in-node=\"235\"><span class=\"citation-167\">african feet<\/span><\/i><span class=\"citation-167 citation-end-167\">the highly rated left-back caught the eye of several Premier League scouts following a series of &#8220;amazing&#8221; performances in the Eredivisie.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 data-path-to-node=\"1\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sufian_El_Karouani_is_wanted_by_West_Ham_and_Leeds\"><\/span>Sufian El Karouani is wanted by West Ham and Leeds<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 1283px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Photo by Daniela Porcelli\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Recent rumors have strongly linked El Caruani with a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia&#8217;s Al-Qadisia, but sources close to the player&#8217;s inner circle have moved to dismiss those reports.<\/p>\n<p>According to Africa Foot, no formal contract has been signed and there is no &#8220;final contract&#8221; with any Saudi club at this stage.<\/p>\n<p>The player is said to be favoring a move to the Premier League instead. Leeds United and West Ham are both &#8220;looking closely&#8221; at their defenders in order to strengthen their defensive options ahead of next season.<\/p>\n<p>However, the person stressed that the interest is currently at an early stage. &#8220;So far, this is just an interest. No details have been discussed about a possible deal or the financial situation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 data-path-to-node=\"4\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_is_Sufian_El_Qalani\"><\/span>Who is Sufian El Qalani?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The 25-year-old left-back had a sensational 2025\/26 season in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n<p>Known for his immense attacking power from his defensive role, El Caruani played in 40 games across all competitions this season, scoring an astonishing 16 assists and 3 goals, taking his total for the club to 28 assists and 5 goals.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>club<\/th>\n<th>Appearance<\/th>\n<th>the goal<\/th>\n<th>assist<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>NEC Nijmegen<\/td>\n<td>114<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<td>12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>FC Utrecht<\/td>\n<td>108<\/td>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<td>28<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>NEC Nijmegen U19<\/td>\n<td>38<\/td>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>total<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>260<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>14<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>42<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>El Caruani, who was born in the Netherlands but represents Morocco at international level, has won five caps for the Atlas Lions.<\/p>\n<p>His current contract with Utrecht is due to expire in June 2026, making this potentially a very attractive offer for Premier League clubs looking for a bargain.<\/p>\n<p>El Caruani is highly regarded for his cross accuracy and ability to attack the back line, giving him the perfect profile for a modern-day Premier League full-back.<\/p>\n<p>With West Ham and Leeds currently locked in a relegation battle, their final league position will likely determine whether their interest is cemented with a formal offer in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>West Ham United and Leeds United are said to have a &#8220;concrete interest&#8221; in FC Utrecht standout Soufian El Carouani as the race to sign the Moroccan international intensifies ahead of the summer transfer window. According to african feetthe highly rated left-back caught the eye of several Premier League scouts following a series of &#8220;amazing&#8221; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-43949","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}