Despite eventually leaving St. Mary’s empty-handed last time out in the Premier League against Ronald Koeman’s triumphant Southampton outfit, the Upton Park faithful have nonetheless had plenty to smile about this season.

The prospect of qualifying for Europe remains a very attainable goal for the Hammers right in the here and now, the Boleyn Ground crowd seem to have taken to their new manager in the shape of Slaven Bilic rather quickly it must be said – and with the likes of Andy Carroll, Diafra Sakho and Manuel Lanzini all expected to be returning to first team action sooner rather than later – the future certainly looks bright for West Ham going into London’s Olympic Stadium in 2016/17.

…And with such a massive move waiting patiently on the horizon for Hammers fans far and wide this season, it seems the East-End club are looking to possibly assert their dominance among the English top-flight next year with the ambitious summer signing of Olympique de Marseille’s Michy Batshuayi.

Although an increased sense of competition will likely surround big Belgian centre-forward between now and the end of the current campaign – do West Ham really have what it takes to complete such a bold move at their club throughout the coming summer transfer window?

Well, on immediate impressions alone – the answer would seemingly be, no. Whilst the Hammers do indeed seem like a side set to be going places in the not too distant future, maybe this latest move in the transfer market will arguably represent a step too far for West Ham in the cold light of day.

When it comes to dominating his opposing back-fours with a dangerously effective physical presence inside the final third, showing impressively quick feet in tight situations for someone of his admitted stature, and simply serving to send the ball home in glorious circumstances far more often than not – Michy Batshuayi certainly looks like a player worth keeping a keen eye on sooner rather than later.

The current Marseille man has also reportedly developed a fair amount of interest from both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur this season, making West Ham’s chances of eventually bringing the 22-year-old centre-forward to the East-End all the more difficult when all is said and done.

As Batshuayi will likely draw constant comparisons with countrymen Romelu Lukaku and Christian Benteke should he end up anywhere near the Premier League next season, the amount of money required to land such an up and coming talent will likely prove staggering for Slaven Bilic’s side one way or another.

Marseille are supposedly after close to £30million for the striker’s highly coveted services over the summer, which seemingly blows West Ham’s aforementioned plan of landing Michy Batshuayi for £20 million well and truly out of the water within the grand scheme of things...

Yet as many wouldn’t have expected the Hammers to secure a player as widely talented and as exciting as Dimitri Payet last summer, perhaps the potential acquisition of this 22-year-old striking sensation isn’t all that unlikely after all. Given the fact that Payet also made the switch from Olympique de Marseille as well this season, West Ham have every right to try their hand at landing another Ligue 1 star before their much anticipated stadium move.

With the switch to London’s Olympic Stadium awaiting Hammers fans in the run up to the 2016/17 campaign, Slaven Bilic’s side admittedly find themselves with a somewhat unique selling point to draw upon over the summer. West Ham simply aren’t in the same position as most of their Premier League counterparts this term, which could eventually sway Batshuayi’s ultimate decision when deadline-day finally arrives.

As we have already seen Stoke City complete the 18.3 million signing of Giannelli Imbula this January of course, such a notion arguably goes to show just how financially dominant the English Premier League has become in recent years, for right or for wrong…

So then, although this particular deal remains well and truly up in the air for West Ham at this particular stage in the proceedings, the thought of Michy Batshuayi turning out in claret & blue at the Olympic Stadium next season, isn’t entirely unbelievable with all things fairly taken into account.

[ad_pod id='football-survey' align='center']

[ad_pod id='writeforus' align='center']