EPL Transfer Rumour: West Ham United ready to smash club record to land Serie A striker
West ham finished 7th in the 2015-16 Premier League table, but as far as scoring goals is concerned, they were 4th in the table. However, that doesn’t seem to stop them from reinforcing their attacking department further. They are ready to break their club record fee of £15 million, which they paid for Andy Carroll in 2013, to bring Columbian striker, Carlos Bacca, to the Olympic stadium.
Previously it was rumored that a fee around £24 million will be enough to lure him away from A.C Milan. However, according to Mirror they are ready to up their bid to £27 million and offer him £70,000/week to make him the 3rd best earner in the squad behind Dimitri Payet and Andy Carroll.
Slaven Bilic has already got an impressive strike force in Andy Carrol, Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho. He is keen to bolster his squad further, and he sees the two times Europa League winner a perfect suit, as the Hammers aim to play Europa league this season. His pace, aggression and eye for goal will come in handy for the hammers in the Premier League as well.
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After their failed attempt to bring Carlos Tevez back and missing out on other targets, Michy Batshuayi and Alexandre Lacazette, they are desperate to break the record for the ex-Sevilla man, who nearly averages a goal in every other game. West Ham United refused to match Liverpool’s £31 million asking price for Benteke after the Belgian was deemed to be out of Klopp’s scheme of things.
Bacca began his career in his native country with Atletico Junior before moving to Club Brugge. He then moved to Sevilla in a £7 million move, where he won two Europa cup back to back. He scored a brace in the 2015 final and then sealed a £30 million move to Italian giants A.C Milan. He continued his prolific goalscoring form, netting 20 goals for the Serie A outfit and finish 3rd in top scorer’s list in Serie A last season.
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Initial reports suggest that they can face some competitions from PSG and Atletico Madrid. The club management remains confident in offering a deal that can persuade the 29-year-old striker to join them even without Champions League football. Their co-owner David Sullivan said:
“Ideally, we would have had someone in place by now but sadly that has not proved to be the case and the forwards we have targeted want to play Champions League football.”
“In a perfect world I would like to think we will bring in a top class striker before the transfer window closes at the end of August, but if that doesn’t happen I have every confidence in our current strikers to continue doing the business.”
If the Hammers can hold on to their standout performer Dimitri Payet they will have a potent strike force to complement the playmaker.
With some good strikers already signing for other Premier League teams this season, this deal can surely make the race for Premier League Golden Boot more exciting.