OPINION
West Ham should abandon plans to sign Chelsea defender Nathan Ake this summer and instead look to bring three of their rival’s fringe players to the London Stadium
The Telegraph claim Chelsea could be willing to offload Ake as they are looking to bring Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci or Southampton star Virgil van Dijk to Stamford Bridge in the coming months.
That would push Ake further down the pecking order in west London, and could see him used as a makeweight to bring Holland international van Dijk to Antonio Conte’s side.
However, it is said that West Ham and Bournemouth are keen to rival Southampton in luring the highly-rated 22-year-old away from Chelsea this summer.
This Is Futbol believes West Ham need to forget about signing a centre-back and concentrate on other areas that need improving such as central midfield, up front and finally replacing Dimitri Payet.
Here are three players that can do just that, including a striker that is reportedly earning £80,000 a week: