West Ham are willing to formally trigger Salomon Rondon’s release clause, who could arrive in East London as part of an effective double signing with FC Porto ace Moussa Marega.
The Northern Echo are the ones reporting our willingness to make a move for Rondon, as they believe Manuel Pellegrini is determined to add an experienced striker to our line up for next season after admitting defeat in the race for Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez.
Our hopes of signing Gomez seemed to rely heavily on Celta being relegated from La Liga, as it would have halved his release clause. The Balaidos natives, however, effectively secured their Spanish top-flight status at the start of the month when they beat Barcelona, as Girona were unable to take advantage of Fran Escriba’s side losing to Athletic Bilbao and drawing on the final day with Rayo Vallecano.
Now, it appears attentions have firmly turned from the continent to the North East, as the Northern Echo believe the boss has instructed our transfer team to pursue Rondon, and trigger his £16.5million release clause.
The 29-year-old struck twelve goals and assisted a further seven across all competitions for Newcastle while on loan at St James’ Park in the recently finalised campaign, but the Magpies are yet to offer the Venezuelan a prolonged stay as they are yet to conclude contract negotiations with manager Rafa Benitez.
We, supposedly, hope that offering West Brom the £16.5m clause now would strengthen our position, as Wolves are also circulating now that they have qualified for the Europa League via Manchester City’s FA Cup win and a seventh-place finish in the Premier League.
Should Pellegrini get his wish, and we sign Rondon, FC Porto’s Marega could join the West Brom-owned striker in Stratford, as well.
A Bola, via Sport Witness, now state as fact that the 28-year-old Mali captain will join the Hammers in the summer, and that he said his goodbyes to the Porto fanbase on Saturday alongside the Real Madrid-bound Eder Militao and Atleti-bound Felipe.
Marega came close to joining us last summer when he tried to force through a deal, but we were unable to come to an agreement with his Liga NOS side.
This year is another story, and now it seems we have agreed to pay his €40million (£35m) release clause.
