West Ham are in the market to find a new striker but only as a replacement for Jordan Hugill, according to Claret & Hugh.
The club insider claims that any potential new attacker must be someone who the club can afford and must be a player who is willing to patiently wait for a chance to feature as they will be behind Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez in the pecking order.
Claret & Hugh report that the Hammers have spent their summer transfer budget and that any new signing will now have to be funded by players being sold.
OPINION
Hugill who stands a 6ft tall (Transfermarkt) looks more and more likely to depart the club with each coming day so it’s make sense the club are already searching for his replacement. While the 26-year-old forward may have only featured three times for the club, it’s clear that due to the injury to Andy Carroll that he is needed at the London Stadium in case Arnautovic and Hernandez also get sidelined. However Manuel Pellegrini appears not to rate Hugill and with him attracting interest from Aston Villa, as reported by The Sun, then the Hammers need to work fast to replace him in order to sanction his potential exit. While the 26-year-old may only go out on loan, it’s likely that he won’t get a look in upon returning unless he has a mindblowing season at whichever club he ends up at. Also as the Hammers are thought to have spent their transfer budget, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Pellegrini looked to the loan market in order to bring in someone to take Hugill’s spot in his squad.
