West Ham United could make a move for Venezia striker Joel Pohjanpalo this summer.
That is according to a report from TuttoMercatoWeb, who claim that Pohjanpalo has a release clause worth around £3m in his contract.
West Ham have just sold Gianluca Scamacca to Atalanta, and the Italian outlet states that the Hammers could now present offers to both Venezia and Pohjanpalo to replace him.
This is not the first time West Ham have been linked with the 28-year-old.
At the start of the month, the Daily Mirror reported that the east London club were looking at Pohjanpalo because of uncertainty surrounding Michail Antonio’s future.
Another experiment that could go wrong
It is fair to say that West Ham signing Scamacca did not work out. In the end, he spent just one season at the London Stadium.
In that time, the Italian only managed to make 16 appearances in the Premier League and score three goals.
It is hugely disappointing for someone who was on fire in Serie A with Sassuolo the campaign before, though injuries were partly to blame.
Whatever the case, West Ham have quickly moved on from Scamacca. However, bringing in Pohjanpalo looks like another gamble.
The Finland international spent last season in Serie B, which is obviously not one of Europe’s top divisions. He scored 19 goals in 37 league appearances, but how much can you read into that? Probably not much.
It looks like Pohjanpalo is going to cost less than £5m if he leaves Venezia this summer. Perhaps the Hammers see this as a low-risk, high-reward opportunity. And if he is only coming in to cover Antonio and Danny Ings, maybe there is some logic behind the club’s interest.
West Ham fans will have some concerns, though, if Pohjanpalo is being bought to be a starter.
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