Bas Dost is keen on leaving Primeira Liga giants Sporting Lisbon for the Premier League – and West Ham should hand him his move
It’s all going wrong at Sporting Lisbon.
After an error-strewn 2-0 Europa League quarter-final first leg defeat to Atletico Madrid on Thursday, in which they gifted the hosts both goals and missed some glorious chances at the other end, president Bruno de Carvalho was his typical outspoken self and slammed his player’s ‘stupid’ performance on his official Facebook page.
And, when 19 players retaliated with a group statement of their own, Carvalho suspended every single one.
It is understood that the striker, who has a release clause of around £55 million but could be on the market for much less, is keen to leave this summer and his agent has since travelled to Lisbon for talks.
Now, Dost boasts a goalscoring record that Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo would be proud of. The Dutchman has scored 58 goals in 54 league starts in almost two years at the Estadio Jose Alvalade and, on paper, would be a brilliant addition for many teams in England’s top flight – including West Ham.
Javier Hernandez offered a timely reminder of his poaching talents with a clinical equaliser in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea but West Ham need more options in attack than the Mexican and Marko Arnautovic, who is a winger by trade despite an impressive run at centre-forward.
Diafra Sakho left for Ligue 1 in January while Andy Carroll is out injured yet again. Dost, if given the right service, can be absolutely lethal and The Hammers have the creative talents on paper to provide the ammunition.
Now he is the sort of signing he could take West Ham to that so-called ‘next level’ the owners had promised when uprooting the club from their Upton Park home.
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