West Ham United had been linked with a move for the Manchester City attacker although he now looks set for Leicester City.
According to a report from Own Goal Nigeria, Leicester City will only pay an initial £15million for Kelechi Iheanacho, with an additional £10million potentially coming in add-ons if certain criteria are reached, and if that is the case it is yet another reason for West Ham United fans to be angry they did not push harder for the 20-year-old.
While Sky Sports claims the Hammers are hoping to sign Javier Hernandez from Bayer Leverkusen this week, Iheanacho would have been the perfect foil; a player who prefers to operate as a secondary striker and who could have benefited from the space created by the Mexican’s constant movement.
A report from ESPN recently suggested that West Ham manager Slaven Bilic had ruled his side out of the running for the Nigeria international as a deal for Leicester moved closer.
The problem comes from the fact that West Ham only belatedly accepted the prospect of a buyback clause, while a fee of £15million for one of the most exciting young strikers in world football is surely too good to refuse.
Any club forced to pay the add-ons will only do so because the player is doing what he was bought to do, and if West Ham miss out on a £15million bargain in a summer when they really need two additional strikers, they will only have themselves to blame.
If Hernandez arrives and fills his boots, Hammers fans may not care, but Iheanacho would have been a long-term investment of the highest quality for far less (at least initially) than previously reported.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
