David Sullivan should avoid lodging an improved offer to sign Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri to replace Sebastien Haller at West Ham United.
What’s the word?
According to Marca, the Hammers remain interested in pursuing a deal to lure En-Nesyri to the Premier League this month after seeing their opening offer knocked back.
Sevilla are said to be relaxed over the prospect of losing their 23-year-old frontman this month as they know January is not the ideal window to sign a starting striker, and will only look to cash-in should they receive offers worth at least €40m (£35.5m).
The Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium natives also demand that the fee is excluding any add-ons, which would be included on top, having only signed En-Nesyri for €20m (£18m) a year ago and seen the forward strike 18 goals in 51 games across all competitions to date.
It remains to be seen if West Ham do increase their offer but negotiations are understood to be continuing, after reports by The Athletic claimed the Irons opened talks with a formal bid worth €25m (£22.5m) plus €5m (£4.5m) in add-ons.
The sum has been described as being ‘clearly insufficient’ by Estadio Deportivo for a player enjoying their best run of form in front of the net, having scored eight goals in 17 La Liga fixtures this term after netting a hat-trick to beat Real Sociedad 3-2 earlier this month.
En-Nesyri is considered to be West Ham’s top target to replace Haller in January, as the Ivory Coast international’s £20m move to AFC Ajax left an injury-prone Michail Antonio as David Moyes’ only recognised senior centre-forward.
Javier Hernandez 2.0
West Ham returning with an improved offer to sign En-Nesyri would see Sullivan land Moyes a striker who his current boss Julien Lopetegui lauds as a “very complete player”, but one whose consistency has recently been questioned.
En-Nesyri is building a reputation in Spain for scoring important goals for Sevilla yet then struggling to find the back of the net, and was even dropped to the bench for his side’s 1-0 defeat at Real Madrid last month even after scoring three goals in his previous four games.
West Ham can ill-afford to have an inconsistent frontman on the books if he sets the Irons back what would have been a club-record fee two years ago, with Felipe Anderson’s £36m arrival and Haller’s £45m move the only transfers to have cost the Hammers more.
The London Stadium natives have already been through more than their fair share of toothless hitmen, with £223m spent on 49 strikers since the arrival of owners David Gold and David Sullivan, including Javier Hernandez, who bled the club dry on a £140,000-per-week contract.
Hernandez hit out at West Ham’s inconsistency during the 2018/19 Premier League season, yet was a large part of the problem with just seven goals in 25 games including failing to score for two months on two separate occasions.
The Mexican is a player West Ham would be wise to avoid finding a repeat of, but may be heading down that route with a costly deal to bring En-Nesyri in despite the setback of having to offer an additional €10m (£8m) as an outright sum.
AND in other news, West Ham can secure David Moyes’ dream Mark Noble heir in a £25m January target.