Many Irons supporters have been reacting to claims made by club insider ExWHUemployee on the West Ham Way podcast, as shared by West Ham Fan Zone.
In particular, parts of the London Stadium faithful have been reacting to the suggestion that the Hammers have around 20 strikers in their sights, as Director of Football Mario Husillos and manager Manuel Pellegrini look to boost the Chilean’s attack for next season.
Ex believes Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez remains at the top of the list currently being considered, despite Fran Escriba’s side retaining their La Liga status, and that we will remain intent on bringing the Uruguayan to East London until he signs elsewhere amid the growing interest in his services.
Should the 22-year-old, who holds a £43million release clause, decide we are not the team for him, the next man in line would appear to be West Bromwich Albion’s Salmon Rondon more so than Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic, thanks to the £16.5million release clause in the contract of the 29-year-old, who spent the past year on loan at Newcastle United.
FC Porto’s Moussa Marega is another potential target this summer, and reports in Portugal have extensively linked us with a €40million (£35.3m) move for the 28-year-old recently.
One man who has also been linked with us, Club Brugge’s Wesley Moraes, however, is not currently under consideration in Stratford according to ExWHUemployee, who understands the Hammers have no interest in the Brazilian.
He does suggest we have scouted Brentford’s Neal Maupay, Birmingham City’s Che Adams, and Eintracht Frankfurt star hitman Sebastien Haller, though, who TransferMarkt value at £36million following a campaign that featured 20 goals and 12 assists across all competitions.
As for strikers potentially leaving the London Stadium in the summer transfer window, The Sun believe Lucas Perez could secure a return to Spain in the coming weeks and join Deportivo Alaves for just £2million – half what he paid Arsenal for the 30-year-old less than a year ago.
But when Ex claimed we had eyes on a range of potential strikers who would improve Pellegrini’s options tenfold compared to Perez, here’s how some fans reacted…
And we’ll end up with Fred Smith from the Dog and Duck Sunday league
— The White Horse (@TheWhiteHorseLC) May 22, 2019
Haller? No chance, as much as I wish this was true. Would be a dream signing but would cost more than we can afford, unfortunately.
— Geo Mackie (@redhammer8) May 22, 2019
halllllllerrrrrrr
— Jack (@WHUJack27) May 22, 2019
Haller made a big impact against Chelsea and was unlucky not to get a goal. Looked a threat. Hopefully he is high on the list
— Gavlar (@Gavlar20) May 22, 2019
Haller is one hell of a player, I’ve banged the drum a fair bit for him in the past as I think he’s tailor made for this league!
I can see him costing about £30m though!
He & Maupay would be excellent additions— Steven McCarthy ???? (@StevenMcCarthy9) May 22, 2019
Maupay would be a good signing, Haller would be a step up in terms of striker options if they could get those two in we’d have quality options up top.
— William Field (@wilfield71) May 22, 2019
@hammers_chat Why do West ham have such a scattergun approach! Oh lets see who is the cheapest who will join us rather than go properly for the main target!
— Mark whufc (@Mwiffen123) May 22, 2019
Che adams & Haller ????
— BelgianHammer (@afrowanny) May 22, 2019
From ‘Marquee signing’ to ‘Sunday Market signing’
— Az (@AzTheBaz) May 22, 2019
Not like us to be linked with that many strikers
— DB (@DannyBrooker5) May 22, 2019
Would love Haller and one of Maupay/Adams/Rondon.
I imagine Haller would cost around £30-40m though, so might be out of our price range like Gomez
— Michael ⚒ Zdenek (@MichaelZdenek) May 22, 2019