Danny Mills has questioned whether Callum Wilson would join West Ham, claiming that it would be a “sideways step” for him.
The Bournemouth striker has been linked with a move to the Hammers, as reported by the Sun, but Sky pundit Mills is unsure it will actually happen.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “There was talk in the past of Chelsea were interested in him and I can completely understand that.
“He’s done incredibly well to come back from two horrific knee injuries. Unless you’ve been in a similar situation you don’t realise the resolve, the commitment, determination, self-belief that it takes to come back from that. It’s incredible what he has managed to achieve and the standards he has got himself back to.
“I’m not sure you’d get him for £35million, you might have to pay an awful lot more than that. If he is to go, somebody slightly higher, closer to that top six – I think he’d be a little bit more interested. He might feel that a step to West Ham might be a little bit more of a sideways step rather than a step up.”
OPINION
This probably isn’t what West Ham fans will have wanted to hear, and you have to argue with Mills’ logic on this one. You can kind of understand why he might believe that a move to West Ham is something of a sidestep right now, with the Hammers finishing just four spots and seven points above Bournemouth last year, but you only have to look at their activity in the transfer market already this summer to realise that that gap will surely grow next term. No disrespect to Bournemouth, who have done wonderfully under Eddie How since making it into the Premier League, but the Irons look capable of pushing for Europe this year. If they can snap up a player like Wilson, plus maybe one or two other additions to add strength in depth here and there, they have every chance of kicking on under Manuel Pellegrini. Give it three or four years, and this won’t look like so much of a sideways step at all.
