West Ham warned off striker as pundit says ‘I wouldn’t buy him’ for £17m

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West Ham United are watching Vangelis Pavlidis but one Eredivisie pundit has reservations about the Premier League-linked AZ Alkmaar talisman. 

With 13 league goals in just nine appearances at the start of the new campaign – the Greek international outstripping last season’s tally before Halloween – Kenneth Perez’s concerns are likely to raise a few eyebrows in the Netherlands.

Vangelis Pavlidis, scouted by West Ham United as he scored a hat-trick against Heerenveen over the weekend (90Min), is one of the most in-form centre-forwards in European football at present. 

One-time Ajax midfielder Perez, however, has reservations about whether Pavlidis can really make the step up to another level? Is he another Ruud van Nistelrooy or Luis Suarez? Or another Mateja Kezman or Afonso Alves? 

West Ham United scout Vangelis Pavlidis

“I always remain conservative with Pavlidis about how good he actually is,” Perez tells ESPN. “It also depends on the competition we are talking about. If he plays in the Netherlands for the rest of his life, he will be a very good striker.  

“I don’t know (if he can be as successful elsewhere). If I had twenty million euros (£17 million), I wouldn’t buy him.”

West Ham have made good use of the Eredivisie market of late, Edson Alvarez and Mohammed Kudus making a big impact since their arrival from Ajax. Pavlidis, meanwhile, has broken the 20-goal barrier in each of his last two seasons at AZ Alkmaar and looks certain to do the same again in 2023/24, a silky, technical centre-forward who wreaks havoc with his excellent close control, his dextrous dribbiling ability and his ruthless finishing. 

West Ham scouting a striker

In addition to Pavlidis, 90Min reports that West Ham are also keen on Adam Hlozek of Bayer Leverkusen, Red Bull Salzburg’s Karim Konate, Stuttgart record-breaker Serhou Guirassy and Paris Saint-Germain’s forgotten man Hugo Ekitike. 

Guirassy’s form has been even more impressive than Pavlidis’ of late, netting 14 times in just eight Bundesliga starts. What’s more, he has a release clause in his contract of just £17 million.