West Ham have reportedly made a move for a striker dubbed the ‘new Henrik Larsson’ and it comes after Graham Potter’s transfer plans were hit by a double blow.
The summer transfer window opens on Sunday, June 1, and West Ham have already had to rip up their best-laid plans.
West Ham have made it clear signing at least one new striker and sorting out the club’s midfield are the top priorities for Graham Potter.
Hammers flop Danny Ings is leaving the club and is followed out of the London Stadium exit by loan disaster Evan Ferguson.
Ings has cost West Ham £30m since joining from Aston Villa two-and-a-half years ago.
The soon-to-be 32-year-old forward cost West Ham £15m and has picked up the same amount in wages on his 125k-per-week salary.
West Ham hit early obstacles in new striker search
Newly-promoted Championship side Wrexham are in talks about signing Ings as he leaves West Ham.
Ferguson did not register a single shot on target during four months with West Ham.
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The 20-year-old’s loan ended up being a complete waste of time for all parties and he is returning to Brighton.
A decision is due soon on Michail Antonio but a top West Ham reporter claimed the Jamaican, who is 36 next season, will be released too.
That would leave injury-prone 32-year-old Niclas Fullkrug as West Ham’s only striker option.
Hammers fans love the German but he has showed his limitations in recent performances.
Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Potter has said publicly he sees Fullkrug as a substitute for West Ham, which raises doubts over his future this summer too.
So it is easy to see why signing a striker is of the utmost importance for Potter and his head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay.
West Ham have confirmed they are trying to move players out so the club can ‘start trading’ as soon as possible.
The reason for that urgency, despite a bumper three-month window not even being open yet, is because rival clubs are already stealing a march on a number of top Hammers targets.
Macaulay arrived at West Ham with a shortlist of strikers in January.
Evann Guessand was identified as a top West Ham target and so too was Emanuel Emegha.
West Ham move for ‘new Henrik Larsson’ after double blow
Now West Ham have moved for the ‘new Henrik Larsson’ after their striker search was hit by a double transfer blow.
It was revealed this week West Ham have missed out on Emegha to Chelsea.
The Blues have ‘all but signed’ Hammers target Emegha from what is essentially their feeder club Strasbourg.
Chelsea don’t even intend to use Emegha next season and will leave him on loan at the BlueCo-owned Ligue 1 side for now with a contract until 2031 all but signed and sealed.
Potter’s other top striker target is Nice’s Guessand.
But Brighton have now hijacked West Ham’s move for Guessand with Joao Pedro set to be sold – possibly to Chelsea as well.
Thankfully Macaulay’s list is comprehensive.
And the new name on it has been compared to Celtic, Barcelona and Sweden great Larsson.
Photo by Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Photo by Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
According to Mail Sport, the Hammers want Brondby striker Mathias Kvistgaarden, a move that should excite West Ham fans.
That’s if the opinion of one former Premier League star is anything to go by.
Danish star Kvistgaarden has been banging the goals in for Brondby this season with the 23-year-old netting 23 times.
Kvistgaarden’s fellow Dane, Thomas Gravesen, who played for the likes of Everton, Celtic and Real Madrid, has waxed lyrical about the Hammers target when he was linked with Celtic previously.
In fact Gravesen has warned Brondby to enjoy Kvistgaarden while they can because it is inevitable he will be snapped up.
Brondby chief admitted West Ham target Kvistgaarden will be sold
“They should be happy that he is there and enjoy the time he has left,” Gravesen said of Kvistgaarden in an interview with Tipsbladet.
“I am sure that he can reach Henrik Larsson’s level… he is simply that good and strong.”
Brondby chairman Jan Bech Andersen recently revealed he rejected offers for Kvistgaarden in the winter window but conceded he will likely be sold this summer.
“Yes, we turned down offers – concrete ones and less concrete ones,” he told Record.
“It was 100 per cent a goal for us to keep him for the rest of the season. There have been many enquiries about him – on the last day and the penultimate day of the transfer window, but we have a good dialogue with Kvistgaarden and his agent about what we are trying to achieve together.
“And the plan was for him to play for us in the spring, when we have many big goals to achieve and then we have to see what happens in the summer.”