West Ham United are desperate to sign a striker or two this summer but have not had much luck so far.
The Hammers have made signing two top strikers a priority this summer after their failure to land a big name marquee forward last summer.
Slaven Bilic has been linked with moves for the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Kelechi Iheanacho, Michy Batshuayi and Olivier Giroud but it seems the club are no closer to adding to their solitary signing of Pablo Zabaleta so far this summer.
And now the East Londoners have been linked with a move to bring Mexico striker and former Manchester United star Javier Hernandez back to the Premier League, as reported by Sky Sports.
Javier Hernandez shoots against Tottenham Hotspur last season
It shocked many when Chicarito was sold to Bundesliga also rans Bayer Leverkusen for just £7.5million back in 2015 following a loan spell at Real Madrid.
What didn’t shock anybody was the fact he has gone on to continue his superb goalscoring record in Germany, notching 39 goals in his two seasons, maintaining his ratio of a goal every two matches.
That kind of potency in front of goal – which Hernandez has displayed in becoming Mexico’s all-time leading goalscorer – and the fact he is proven in the Premier League with 40 goals in 100 games for the Red Devils, is exactly what Bilic is looking for this summer as the manager has publicly admitted.
The Hammers were linked with Hernandez after Bilic was appointed but were allegedly put off when the 29-year-old demanded £90,000 per goal, as reported by The Mirror at the time.
But even if he bagged 20 goals in the claret and blue that would cost West Ham just £2 million – small fry in today’s cash rich football world.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Javier Hernandez
Hernandez is into the last year of his three-year deal and Sky Sports reports that he has a rather paltry release clause of £13million in his contract.
Hammers owners David Sullivan and David Gold have bemoaned the fact they have not had much luck luring a top striker to East London in the past year.
Well with such a low release clause and money burning a hole in the club’s pockets, there can be no excuse for West Ham’s hierarchy not to get the deal over the line.
West Ham United owners David Gold and David Sullivan
West Ham’s star playmaker Manuel Lanzini would undoubtedly relish playing with his fellow South American and it would transform the East Londoners, making them a real threat to the top six.
Pull it off and the fans will start to believe in the owners again.
Fail and calls for them to sell up will grow ever louder.
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