West Ham have made contact over signing SD Luneng forward Graziano Pelle in the last few days, according to Tuttomercatoweb.
The Italian football website claim that the Hammers and Turkish giants Galatasaray enquired about the availability of the 6ft 4in tall attacker (Source: Soccerbase) but that Chinese club SD Luneng recently extended his contract to make his future clear.
Tuttomercatoweb report that due to him renewing his contract, which is believed to see him earn somewhere in the region of 15million euros a year (£13.5million), he won’t be playing his domestic football in Europe anytime soon.
OPINION
Pelle seems to enjoy his time playing in China’s top-flight as not only does his contract sound lucrative, he always seems to be amongst the goals in his outings. In 2018 so far, the 33-year-old has been involved in 27 goals in order to aid his side’s cause and justify his huge wage. Pelle has scored 16 and created 11 in his 31 outings across all competitions and is no doubt a fan favourite due to his antics. Hammers fans probably won’t he disappointed that the club’s reported contact probably won’t result in Pelle arriving for multiple reasons. Firstly the club aren’t overly desperate for a forward and signing a 33-year-old seems a bit pointless as he is a short-term fix if anything. Secondly Hammers fans are probably aware that Pelle will want a huge salary, given his current deal, and they won’t want their club pouring money down the drain. Also finally while it is impressive for anyone to be involved in 27 goals in a single calendar year, China’s top division isn’t as competitive as England’s Premier League.
