West Ham United have received an offer in the region of £3million from Norwich City for striker Jordan Hugill following relegation to the Championship, according to The Times.
The Canaries are understood to have approached the Hammers with a low-ball offer looking to sign Hugill, having seen the 28-year-old thrive in the second-tier whilst on loan with Queens Park Rangers last season.
Hugill scored a strong 13 goals in 39 league appearances for the Rs, of which 30 outings were starts, but the forward is not expected to see his return in front of the net lead to another chance to impress in east London under David Moyes.
It is instead predicted that Hugill will once again be playing his football in the Championship during the 2020/21 term, potentially with QPR who are thought to be holding negotiations over a second loan spell.
Rangers boss Mark Warburton is eager to retain the striker but is aware that West Ham would want a sizable transfer fee for a permanent deal, which The Times support by stating that we are keen to recoup much of the £8million spent to sign the 28-year-old from Preston North End in January 2018.
West Ham’s response to Norwich’s offer is not yet noted, although it can be presumed the £3m bid was rejected. The Irons can use QPR’s interest to drive up the Canaries’ offer, or turn to Rangers as the second-tier side would consider signing Hugill as part of any potential transfer of their Player of the Year and Hammers target Eberechi Eze.
Who would you rather Moyes signs?
Eze
Aarons
While QPR would like to sign Hugill as part of any deal for us to land Eze, club chiefs can also use Norwich’s interest to improve our standing in the fraught fight to sign Canaries right-back Max Aarons and solve Moyes’ need for a new defender.
Aarons is believed to be a target for the club given the struggles of Ryan Fredericks and the departures of Pablo Zabaleta and Jeremy Ngakia, but the potential of a deal is minimal with Norwich demanding £30m for the 20-year-old considered to be one of their ‘crown jewels’.
Bayern Munich are also interested in signing Aarons this summer, and are willing to offer €20million (£18.3m) as the Bundesliga champions strive to add depth behind World Cup winner Benjamin Pavard.
If Norwich do not feel Hugill is worth what we are demanding, we could use the striker in the same way QPR have suggested and sell him on the cheap as a gesture of goodwill to land Aarons for less than other sides may be obliged to pay.
The question, therefore, is how much can West Ham afford to offer alongside Hugill and who Moyes feels would add more to the side, Aarons or Eze?
