West Ham have got Chelsea hitman Alvaro Morata in their sites as they look for a replacement to take the place of Marko Arnautovic as they ready themselves for the Austrian’s exit, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claim on their website that the Irons have built up a four man shortlist, including the £100,000-a-week Spaniard (source: Spotrac), with fellow Blue Olivier Giroud, Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson and Genoa hotshot Krzysztof Piatek said to also be on their radar.
It is stated that Arnautovic looks set to leave the club with £250,000-a-week wages offered from a club in China, with a bid in excess of £40million said to heading the way of east London over the coming days, and as such Manuel Pellegrini is looking for someone to take his place.
Good move for West Ham?
Nine goals in 24 appearances this season is hardly anything special and it has been some of Morata’s misses, rather than the efforts he has stuck into the back of the net, which have caught the headlines.
He seems to be under plenty of pressure at Chelsea and there definitely appears to be a desire at Stamford Bridge to bring in a new striker to take his place, which could leave him open to join West Ham if he wished.
He is mobile and possesses good movement be he looks to have struggled with the physicality of the Premier League so maybe he is not the ideal replacement for Arnautovic, not least because he will end up costing a pretty penny for the Irons.
This is Futbol rating: 7/10
Likely to happen?
If he is their number one target then they might want to try for their other options, with the Spanish international unlikely to take what he would deem a significant drop in level from Chelsea to the London Stadium.
He has played for Real Madrid and Juventus and whether he actually is good enough for those clubs or not, he will certainly believe he is worthy of playing at another top side.
Monetary demands also will not help his cause and so this is one the Irons can forget about.
This is Futbol rating: 3/10