Who is Finn Jeltsch? Meet the U17 World Cup winner wanted by West Ham United

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Summer transfer 

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Transfermarkt can confirm a report by Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg that West Ham is monitoring the situation of young defender Finn Jeltsch of 2. Bundesliga side 1. FC Nürnberg. A potential transfer, however, wouldn’t take place this winter but at the earliest next summer. Nürnberg want in the region of £15m (€17.8m) for the 18-year-old center-back. Jeltsch was previously linked with a move to Bundesliga sides Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Mönchengladbach. 

It remains to be seen whether Frankfurt and Gladbach will try to outbid West Ham. Frankfurt would be the more likely of the two. Last summer, the Eagles paid €11m to sign Can Uzun from Nürnberg. That deal remains the 2. Bundesliga side’s record club sale. Frankfurt will have the money. The Bundesliga club is in advanced negotiations with Man City to sell Omar Marmoush for €80m. 

How open is Jeltsch for a move? “He is very happy at Der Glubb,” Nürnberg sporting director Olaf Rebbe said to the Transfermarkt Podcast Done Deals. “He is our no.4 and is already a leader despite being very young. We really enjoy working with him. What about a potential transfer? “That’s not playing a role at the moment,” Rebbe said. “He has developed very well, and his ceiling is very high.” Rebbe described Jeltsch as a player, who will have an excellent career. 

What can Jeltsch add to West Ham United? Although he is only 18, Jeltsch has started all but two games for Nürnberg in what has been a very competitive 2. Bundesliga this season. The only two games Jeltsch missed were on matchdays 7 and 8, when he was out with muscular problems. According to FBREF, Jeltsch is in the 94th percentile with 1.61 progressive carries and the 97th percentile with 0.81 successful take-ons among all 2. Bundesliga players. 

Jeltsch, a major part of the Germany squad that won the U17 World Cup in 2023, has also benefitted from working with head coach Miroslav Klose. Although a former world-class striker and Bayern youth coach, Klose has developed a reputation for ensuring players learn the defensive side of the game. 

“When it came to defending, I just didn’t get it,” Bayern star Jamal Musiala recently wrote in an article for the Player’s Tribune. “I just want to attack and take people on, and he would drill it into me every single day that I had to defend. I’m not going to lie; it was annoying at times. But [Klose] made me a more complete player.” Jeltsch has now become the latest player to benefit from Klose’s tutelage, and it could earn him a move to Premier League club West Ham.