Hammers insider @ExWHUemployee has revealed an update on West Ham United’s pursuit of Queens Park Rangers’ Eberechi Eze.
It has been reported in recent weeks that the Irons are keen on acquiring the Championship attacker, however, it is believed that QPR are holding out for £20m for the player (per The Guardian).
Alongside the asking price, a problem is also presented by the fact that Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa are also reported to be keen on the signing.
So, in the latest episode of The West Ham Way podcast, @ExWHUemployee aired an update for supporters on David Moyes’ interest in the forward.
He said: “We clearly do want to sign Eze, he’s someone that I’ve reported for months and months and months. He’s been wanted for a long time now, but Crystal Palace have moved in ahead of us and they’ve pretty much I think agreed or [are] close to agreeing terms for him.
“They’re likely to sell [Wilfried] Zaha so he’s kind of like a quite similar like-for-like replacement. So, what we want to do is we want to sell [Felipe] Anderson to finance the Eze deal.
“Now, if we sell Anderson, that money would go towards Eze, but it could be too late, because he could have already joined Palace. We wanted to offer [Jordan] Hugill to them; our valuations of Hugill are very different to QPR.
“So, they’re going to put Hugill as a makeshift in the deal but his value is still not enough for us to be able to buy unless we sell Anderson. The club might get to the situation where they think, ‘Right, we’re going to lose Eze here, we’re going to put in the offer’, but at the moment, they want to sell [players first].”
TIF Thoughts…
Judging from what the in-the-know pundit had to say, it seems that the Hammers will have to sell players this summer before they can bid large amounts for anyone.
Do you think West Ham will sign Eberechi Eze this summer?
No, I don't think so
Yes, I think we will
However, after the 22-year-old attacker was the best-performing player for the R’s in the Championship this season with a solid 7.36/10 average rating (per WhoScored), it is clear that the player is talented.
With a market value of £8.1m according to Transfermarkt, though, it does seem that QPR are holding out for over the odds with their £20m asking price.