West Ham United insider @ExWHUemployee has recently shed light on the Hammers’ attempts to sign James Tarkowski from Burnley.
According to the latest reports on the Irons’ pursuit of the 27-year-old centre-back, the club’s latest offer of £30m has been rejected by the Clarets (per Sky Sports).
It is stated in the report that the offer which was made by David Moyes’ outfit for the defender ‘still falls well short’ of what the North West club wants.
According to a recent report from Football Insider, it was stated that Burnley want £35m for Tarkowski after dropping their valuation from £50m following the global pandemic.
In the latest episode of The West Ham Way Podcast, the club insider discussed what he knew about the touted interest in signing the English centre-back prior to the report on the rejected £30m offer.
He said: “The best way to describe it is that we put in a bid that we probably expected to be rejected – which is common practice for most football [clubs], or any deal.
“You never go in and whack in the maximum you’d pay before trying to barter. That’s the same for anything – a house, a car, whatever. So, it’s [the] natural process.
“I think Burnley did their equivalent by saying it won’t be anything less than £50m. I think they’ll make another bid. They’ll go into the 30s maybe, and see what happens there.
“The player has stated repeatedly that he doesn’t want to come down south. He played for Brentford, him and his wife didn’t particularly enjoy their time in the south, but we are potentially offering [for] him to double his wage.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the club insider had to say, there still appears to be some distance between what the Clarets want for the defender and what the Hammers are offering.
Furthermore, even if West Ham have an offer accepted, there are still question marks over whether the player would want to make the move.
Should West Ham bid £35m to try and sign James Tarkowski?
No, he's not that good
Yes, he's a good player
When Burnley signed the defender in 2016, they paid the Bees just £3.6m to secure his services (per Transfermarkt).
While Tarkowski does have two years left on his contract with the Clarets, his market value is £18m, so, it does seem that Sean Dyche’s side is after a fee that is over the odds.