OPINION
West Ham have surely lost ground in their efforts to sign Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic after the latest transfer report on his future.
According to the Daily Mirror‘s live transfer blog [Wednesday 21:14], Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen – who finished fourth in the German top flight last season – have also joined the race for the 48-time Serbia international.
What’s more, the newspaper claims that the Cottagers want £30million for Mitrovic, and are braced to see him leave ahead of the club’s return to the Championship after a dismal Premier League showing.
This latest report surely means that West Ham are nearing closer to pulling out of a deal to sign Mitrovic. The fact that he is going to cost £30million will definitely put them off as he is not worth that much.
Yes, the striker had a magnificent showing in the Championship when he was on loan at Fulham before they were promoted, but in the Premier League he only scored 11 goals.
At best, he is going to be backup to Marco Arnautovic – if the Austrian stays this summer – and for £3omillion, he would prove very expensive backup.
Moving onto Leverkusen being linked, it is a lot more likely that Mitrovic is going to get a lot more game time at the German side, and he would surely prefer to move to a club where he is going to be a regular starter instead of a backup player.
Alongside that, West Ham may even have another target in mind, with Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez being linked with a move to the London Stadium in recent days [Gianluca di Marzio].
And at 22, he would prove a much better investment – being two years younger than the Serbian – which means West Ham will surely let their reported approach of Mitrovic slide and focus on Gomez instead.