West Ham United are in contact with Sampdoria over a potential January swoop for striker Gregoire Defrel, according to TuttoMercatoWeb.
The Italian football outlet report that the Hammers are one of three Premier League clubs with the 27-year-old Frenchman in their sights, with Fulham and Watford named as the other interested parties.
TMW claim that Defrel has an uncertain future at the Serie A side after the arrival of Manolo Gabbiadini from Southampton, with Atalanta also said to be in pursuit of the 5’10” forward [Transfermarkt].
OPINION
It seems as though Defrel is attracting the attention of several Premier League clubs, which would suggest that scouts have seen something in the French hitman. Looking at his stats, it is not clear exactly what that is, with Defrel having a mediocre record of seven goals in 21 games in all competitions this season. It is not like he is particularly young either at 27 years old, or particularly built for Premier League football at 5’10” . With the Hammers potentially set to lose Marko Arnautovic, they cannot really afford to be messing about with strikers who would take time to adapt to the Premier League. To replace that amount of goals they need someone ideally with some Premier League experience, or someone who has been in red-hot form at a high level elsewhere. Defrel does not really meet any of those criteria, and this looks like a strange move for the Irons to make should they decide upon it.
