According to Brazilian paper Lancenet, West Ham are attempting to sign Sao Paulo’s promising young striker Jonathan Calleri.
The 22-year-old striker recently won the Argentine Primera Divison with Boca Juniors in 2015 before joining Sao Paulo on loan in January this year.
The striker has hit impressive form in 2016, scoring 12 goals in 23 games for Sao Paulo. His talents have attracted the interest of Inter Milan, Chelsea, Tottenham and Swansea in the past, but the Hammers have now leapt to the front of the queue as they look to sign a striker for next season.
Calleri, who outscored West Ham’s former striker Carlos Tevez in Boca Juniors’ 2015 season, is valued at £5.63m on transfermarkt. His current club Deportivo Maldonado are interested in letting Calleri leave on a permanent deal but the striker’s third party ownership with an investor group could cause problems for West Ham in a financial sense.
The Uruguayan club paid a fee of £8.25m to sign the striker from Boca Juniors in January this year so the club would be looking to make a profit if they were to sell Calleri.
The striker is technically gifted and effective in the air and this has caught the attention of Slaven Bilic. The Hammers are expected to sign two strikers this summer and Calleri could be a good investment if he lives up to his undoubted talent.
West Ham’s reported interest comes a day after the club had a bid of around £25.8m rejected by Lyon for their star striker Alexandre Lacazette. The Telegraph’s Jason Burt has stated that the deal is now dead so the Hammers are exploring other options in attack.
So.. West Ham have failed in bid of 33m euros (£25.8m) for Alexandre Lacazette and I’m told the deal is now dead. More on Telegraph Sport
— Jason Burt (@JBurtTelegraph) May 17, 2016
