OPINION
With the season coming to an end many players’ contracts at their respective clubs are also nearly up – meaning they’re available for a much smaller fee.
Certain clubs are prepared to take a cut price to get players they don’t want at the club any longer to free up money and space for new signings.
This was the case with West Ham when they were linked by TuttoMercatoWeb to Stephan El Shaarawy of Roma back at the end of 2018, whose contract runs out in 2020, after the Hammers failed to persuade Edin Dzeko to join the club.
Shaarawy was said to be heading towards a new contract but interest from elsewhere meant a new deal was never agreed at the Stadio Olympico.
That was until this week when on Thursday, Gianluca Di Marzio confirmed on their website that there will be a meeting next week to discuss a new deal for the 26-year-old.
This will be a bullet dodged by Manuel Pellegrini should the Italian international sign a new deal at his current club. West Ham would have to produce a lot of money to confirm the signature of El Shaarawy who has been disappointing this season to say the least for Roma.
The winger has only scored 11 goals in his 30 appearances for his club and looks likely to stay in the Serie A. With that being said, they also have better options at the club already, with club record signing Felipe Anderson having an incredible break out season in the Premier League and the imminent return of Andriy Yarmolenko who also broke on to the scene with great effect at the London Stadium before injury struck.
The Hammers need to use their money wisely and improve areas such as the centre of midfield with questions surrounding the futures of players like Pedro Obiang who is said to have attracted interest from Fiorentina, with available money being more wisely spent on reported targets such as Isaac Hayden.
