OPINION
West Ham must try their luck and hijack RB Leipzig’s reported attempt to sign Everton winger Ademola Lookman this summer.
The Daily Mirror claimed on Thursday that the German club had seen a £12million bid rejected for the pacey 20-year-old winger and that they were currently deciding whether to improve their offer.
The newspaper stated that Lookman was keen to move on from the Toffees after being starved of regular first-team football at the club even though new boss Marco Silva was reluctant to see him leave.
The 20-year-old winger has only been allowed to feature 24 times for the Toffees’ senior team despite regularly showing glimpses of his fantastic attacking talent.
The winger, who can feature on either flank, has blistering pace, breathtaking dribbling skills and is lethal when part of a side’s counter-attack.
The speed demon is ready to take the Premier League by storm and if his 11 appearances in the Bundesliga for RB Leipzig when on loan with them last season are anything to go by, he will deliver the goods in front of goal as well as excite supporters.
Lookman may have only joined the German club in January but he racked up five goals and four assists in 11 appearance to significantly help their cause.
The Toffees may be reluctant to lose such a promising talent but given the winger’s desire to move on it might force their hand and see him sold this summer.
The Hammers have to swoop now to have a chance of getting the Premier League speedster as RB Leipzig will soon realise it’s worth making another bid for him.
Lookman would significantly boost the Hammers’ attacking threat due to his attributes and would excite fans by darting down the wing to put his side on the front foot.
The winger is also only set to get better due to his age and could be the attacking player that Manuel Pellegrini’s potential revolution at the club is built around.
While £12million is not enough to acquire Lookman at the moment, the Hammers would still get great value for their money if they went as high as £17million and perhaps that amount will convince their PL rivals to sell their talented winger.
Therefore the Hammers must swoop for Lookman even though RB Leipzig have apparently seen their opening bid rejected as Lookman would be a revelation at the London Stadium if welcomed.
