Liverpool will sell West Ham transfer target Harvey Elliott for £40m but they will demand a “buyback clause”, unless the Hammers are prepared to pay more, according to reports.
The England Under-21 international has been tipped to be Graham Potter’s next target after the Hammers secure the services of Slavia Prague left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf.
However, the Daily Mail claim that Liverpool will want a buyback option if they sell Elliott for £40m, or it will be £50m without it.
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Considering that West Ham are working with limited financial resources, they may be tempted to bite the bullet and pay the lower figure.
Elliott is keeping his options open
The 22-year-old is a Liverpool fan but he only made 6 starts under head coach Arne Slot last season. Speaking last month, Elliott hinted that he would be open to leaving Anfield for more game time:
“It’s just a situation that me and the team have to have a conversation about because I’m coming into an age now where I’m 22, I’m going to be 23 next season.”
“I don’t really want to be wasting years [of] my career because it’s a short career. You don’t know what’s going to happen. I need to reflect. I need to see if I’m content in doing what I’m doing and how I can improve as a player because that’s the most important thing.”
West Ham do have an alternative in mind
While the Irons are said to be optimistic that they can snap up Elliott, that “buyout clause” condition may still give them pause for thought.
Manchester City’s James McAtee is another option that could come under consideration. There were reports that Elliott’s England Under 21 international teammate was available for as little as £25m but The Mail have subsequently stated that his real valuation is £40m – the same as Elliott.
McAtee also has plenty of clubs competing for his signature, many of which are in Germany. Both deals have potential pitfalls associated with them, so we shall have to wait and see which player Potter and head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay choose to go after.
In other news, fans have been discussing whether West Ham should sign a Chelsea striker