West Ham United have £25 million set aside for Napoli forward Hirving Lozano, according to AreaNapoli, and the Serie A giants may be willing to cash in even if that means they will make a substantial loss.
It is fair to say the Eredivisie is not the most accurate barometer of a player’s ability.
For every Luis Suarez you have a Vincent Janssen, for every Ruud van Nistelrooy a Matija Kezman or an Afonso Alves. Lozano, who ripped Dutch defences apart during a two-year spell at PSV, has looked more Janssen than Suarez since moving to the Stadio San Paolo in a £37 million deal.
The Mexico international has started just eight Serie A games in his debut season at Napoli, scoring twice and assisting once.
And with the global health crisis hitting even Italy’s biggest clubs hard in the pocket, reports now suggest that Partenopei owner Aurelio di Laurentiis could be tempted to cash in on Lozano if they receive a sizeable, if rather reduced, offer.
West Ham apparently have a £25 million offer lined up and that, it seems, could be enough to strike a deal.
While Hammers fans may be concerned by Lozano’s disastrous spell in a major European league, it would be unfair to write him off already. After all, his recent omission from the starting XI is more down to the preferences of coach Gennaro Gattuso, who prefers the subtlety of a Jose Callejon to the direct dribbling and explosive pace of Lozano.
The Mexican scored 40 goals and produced 23 assists in just two seasons at PSV.
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