West Ham United are not interested in signing Club Brugge striker Wesley Moraes, despite reports to the contrary, according to Claret & Hugh.
The reliable Hammers news source claims that they have been informed by a club source that the Brazilian, who bagged 17 goals this season, is not one of the players the east London outfit are looking at.
That’s despite The Chronicle reporting recently that West Ham are in a transfer battle with Newcastle United and Lazio for the 22-year-old.
The club are said to be monitoring 20 or more players this summer, but Wesley is not one of their attacking targets. The likes of Maxi Gomez, Salomon Rondon, Moussa Marega and Aleksandar Mitrovic are, though.
OPINION
This is a bit of a shame for Hammers fans. Wesley is a raw prospect, certainly, but he is still very much that: a prospect. He’s a wonderful talent who has been making waves in Belgium. 17 goals is nothing to sniff at at his age, no matter what league you’re playing in. The fact that he scored a couple of goals in the Champions League shows that he’s got the ability to cut it at a higher level. However, by looking at the names of strikers West Ham are looking at, it would appear that Manuel Pellegrini is targeting more experienced, proven frontmen than the youngster. However, Wesley would likely be cheaper than all the other options listed above. Plus, he might have as much upside as any of them. This leaves West Ham in a tricky spot, though, because it looks like it’s going to be tricky for them to bring in any of their preferred striking targets. So perhaps they may end up going in for Wesley after all.
