Reported West Ham United transfer target Joakim Maehle has spoken about his future at Belgian club Genk, in an interview with Danish publication Ekstra Bladet.

What did he say?

The Danish defender has attracted plenty of interest as a result of his displays for Genk, with West Ham, Southampton and Crystal Palace all linked with his signature.

The Saints reportedly made an £11.5million bid for the full-back in January and it is expected that a number of clubs could return for him this summer.

Speaking this week, the 22-year-old did little to quell talk of a potential move and West Ham will certainly have taken note.

"The interest from Southampton was concrete, but their bid was not high enough," Maehle told Ekstra Bladet.

"But I still believe that one day I might end up in Southampton and the Premier League.

“My agent doesn't tell me everything, but as I said, only Southampton have really been in the picture.”

Good move

West ham have a questionable record in the transfer market in recent years, but this looks like a move that could work out.

Maehle is a young defender with plenty of potential and would ideally add to the young core that the club are looking to develop.

At £11.5m he is still relatively affordable in a transfer market that will undoubtedly be affected by the global economic situation, so this could prove a smart pick-up.