West Ham United are fighting tooth and nail to bolster Julen Lopetegui's squad ahead of the fresh Premier League season. Despite a series of disappointing rejections, there are some exciting deals in the works.
Possibly the most exciting transfer in the pipeline is that of Crysencio Summerville, who has undergone a medical with the east Londoners but is still yet to receive the green light, with Sky Germany's Florian Plettenberg revealing that several issues need ironing out on both players and club sides.
After several false dawns – including a move for Aston Villa's Jhon Duran – the Irons faithful will simply be desperate to secure the talented player, who was crowned the Championship Player of the Season for 2023/24. First, however, the club have excited supporters by sorting out their striker situation.
West Ham transfer news
West Ham will field a new centre-forward this season, with Borussia Dortmund's Niclas Fullkrug set to complete a €32m (£27m) move to the London Stadium following intense negotiations, with Sky Germany's exclusive since corroborated by Fabrizio Romano.
However, while the 31-year-old German has some exciting skills to bring to Lopetegui's fold, there's a sense that the Hammers have put their eggs in the wrong basket, with a Premier League phenom seemingly ready to move to an ambitious outfit.
He'd cost significantly more then Fullkrug – who became the leading target after the move for Duran fell flat – but Ivan Toney would perhaps have been the perfect alternative option, having been linked with a move away from Brentford this summer.
West Ham could sign Ivan Toney
Toney has been a real force in the Premier League since firing Thomas Frank's Bees out of the Championship, with his goalscoring success even leading him to be hailed as a "world-class" player by the Danish tactician.
2023/24
17 (16)
4
2
2022/23
33 (33)
20
4
2021/22
33 (32)
12
5
His return of 36 goals and 11 assists across 83 appearances in the top flight serves as a measure of his prowess, directly contributing toward 29% of Brentford's Premier League goals across three campaigns despite missing a significant portion of last season due to suspension for an eight-month FA betting breach.
West Ham have been considered among the favourites to sign the England international this summer and received a boost last month when it emerged that Brentford had slashed their asking price to just £50m for the 28-year-old, with a lack of interest narrowing the suitor pool to just the Hammers and London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs seem to be prioritising the signing of Bournemouth centre-forward Dominic Solanke, however, meaning that Lopetegui's outfit have a crystallising chance to land Toney and send their strikeforce to new heights for several seasons to come.
This points toward a sure-fire signing for West Ham, should they have chosen to advance their interest and bring the Three Lions sensation to east London. Alas, Fullkrug has been identified as the man for the job, but will it be a transfer that United come to rue?
How Ivan Toney compares to Niclas Fullkrug
West Ham didn't boast the kind of striker needed to reach the levels desired last term, and Fullkrug will plug that gap – but he might not do so with the same panache and potency as Brentford's talisman.
That point regarding last season is by no means to discredit the exploits of Jarrod Bowen, who scored some 20 goals across all competitions last season, and nor is it meant to muddy the accomplishments of Michail Antonio, who is simply a victim of the passage of time, facing his twilight years ahead.
1.
Jarrod Bowen
44
20
2.
Mohammed Kudus
45
14
3.
Tomas Soucek
52
10
4.
Lucas Paqueta
43
8
5.
Michail Antonio
32
7
5.
James Ward-Prowse
51
7
In Toney, the likes of Bowen would have found a centre-forward with which to forge a deadly partnership, especially given that the one-time Newcastle United youngster is similar to Fullkrug.
Fullkrug has clearly been profiled extensively by the Hammers, with the German international's own hold-up ability second to none, having been praised as the "complete forward" by talent scout Jacek Kulig.
This is evidenced by his performances last season, posting 15 goals and ten assists across all competitions for Dortmund, ranking among the top 5% of forwards in the German top flight for assists per 90 last term, as per FBref.
This showcase of link-up quality and multi-skilled dynamism is something that belies the stocky 6 foot 2 frame of the marksman somewhat, but while he would be most effective at the spearhead of the West Ham side, Toney is simply a better, younger and more athletic version.
After all, Three Lions teammate Declan Rice has even claimed that the Northampton-born phenom is capable of moonlighting as a "playmaker" and is "like Harry Kane" in that regard, such is the level of his passing quality and talent to enrich the fluency and coherence of his side's attack.
Toney's strength and natural awareness of his surroundings, his on-pitch intelligence, suggest that he could have broken the strikers' curse at West Ham and provided the icing on the cake as a course is charted back to the prominence of European nights.
The aforementioned Frank has also claimed that his star centre-forward has "the mindset of a lion", which is exactly the kind of iron-enforced belief that is needed at West Ham.
He'd have cost nearly double the fee being paid for Fullkrug's signature, and that may well have proved to be a sticking point in Steidten's identification of the perfect No. 9, but Toney is the real deal and has many years left to give at the highest level.
Will this be a move that West Ham come to regret?
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