West Ham are lining up a £35million bid to sign Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson, according to the Sun.
The report claims that the Hammers look set to miss out on Maxi Gomez and that Pellegrini wants Wilson as his number one striker.
Andy Carroll has left, Marko Arnautovic reportedly wants a move to Italy and Javier Hernandez would be allowed to leave.
However, the report claims that Eddie Howe would have the final say on any move with Wilson under contract at the south coast club until 2022. His current deal is worth a reported £40k-a-week.
A good move for West Ham?
The Hammers desperately need a striker who is reliable. They’ve had continual injury problems with Andy Carroll and off-the-field issues with Marko Arnautovic, who doesn’t seem entirely committed to the cause. He agitated for a move in January when a Chinese Super League club came calling. West Ham convinced him to stay then and he signed a new four-year deal, but, we get the impression that West Ham is a club that pays his wages rather than one Arnie is in love with. That’s fine, but it doesn’t give the club much security and the last thing it needs is more unrest in a future window. So, Wilson then? The player’s got talent and he’s an England international when Gareth Southgate’s side is not short of attacking options. But is he reliable? He suffered two serious cruciate ligament injuries that curtailed his game-time in the 15/16, 16/17 and 17/18 seasons. He made 30 appearances last season, his most for Bournemouth in the Premier League, but he still missed six games with a knee injury. Do West Ham need to sign another injury-prone player?
This is Futbol rating: 6/10
Likely to happen?
It would depend on a number of things. We can’t see Wilson being added on top of Arnautovic so moving the Austrian on first could be key. But Bournemouth have no imperative to sell and Eddie Howe is reported to have the final say on whether Wilson can go. Surely he won’t want to lose an England international striker unless the money was just too good to refuse? Wilson still has three years left on his contract and we think it would take more than £35million to convince Howe to let him go. He didn’t want to lose him in January for “any price” and we can’t see him changing his mind for £35million now. Wilson himself has said he’s happy at Bournemouth but he’s 27 now and West Ham have got ambitions of breaking into the top tier of the Premier League. £40k-a-week isn’t a lot of money for a top-class striker, either. West Ham could make him a tempting offer.
This is Futbol rating: 5/10