West Ham United need to get it right in the summer transfer window and West Bromwich Albion man could be the answer.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
The Hammers have turned their season around since Christmas and are sitting in the relative comfort of ninth place in the Premier League.
In truth it is likely to be the highest they can finish given the gap to the likes of Everton above them while there is no danger of Slaven Bilic’s side being dragged into any kind of relegation dogfight.
While the mediocrity of midtable may not provide an exciting end to the season for fans of the East London club, it does give Bilic and co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan plenty of time to prepare their summer recruitment.
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The Hammers got things badly wrong last summer as they diluted their squad with a glut of poor quality free transfers and flop loan signings despite promising supporters big name marquee signings as they took up residence at their new 60,000 seater Olympic Stadium home.
Having lost star man Dimitri Payet in January the club faces a big task to bring in better quality players to compete with the Premier League elite.
An over reliance on injury prone striker Andy Carroll has once again been shown up this season and the club will want a proven forward in the summer.
West Bromwich Albion’s Salomon Rondon
And they could do a lot worse than bid big for West Brom’s excellent Salomon Rondon.
The 27-year-old Venezuelan international is well on his way to double figures this season and has impressed with his powerful displays which have helped the Baggies in an unexpected bid for European football.
West Brom are historically a selling club, though, and the right offer might tempt them to do business.
However the Baggies have proved in recent seasons with their stance over Rondon – who attracted recent interest from China – and Saido Berahino that they are serious about establishing themselves as a top 10 side.
The Hammers would undoubtedly face competition for his signature but would represent a step up in terms of stature and ambition, playing in front of 66,000 people every other week from next season.
Rondon scoring against West Ham earlier this season
West Ham would have to shell out a club record fee in excess of the £20.5 million they paid for Andre Ayew to land him.
But it would be for a player Bilic clearly rates highly.
The Hammers manager used Rondon as an example of smaller clubs being able to buy “great players” thanks to Premier League money, as reported by the Daily Mail at the time.
Bilic will just hope that doesn’t mean they can hold onto him too.
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