West Ham United are preparing a second offer for Celta Vigo striker Maxi Gomez after their initial bid was rejected, according to the Evening Standard.
The newspaper claims that the Hammers’ offer of £25million was turned down by the La Liga side, while Spanish giants Valencia remain interested as well.
The 22-year-old has a release clause of £43.5million in his Celta contract, and it’s believed Fran Escribá’s side are looking to recoup closer to that amount.
The Standard’s report states that Hammers director of football Mario Husillos has been monitoring the player since January, while Football London reported in May that he was a key transfer target for the West Ham chief.
OPINION
All the noise coming out of east London for the last few months has been that the club are hugely interested in Gomez and are hoping to bring him in this summer. They have been tracking him since January having identified him then as a potential replacement for attacker Marko Arnautovic had he left for China in the winter transfer window. So it would be a surprise if they were deterred by one failed bid for the player. That’s what has happened, then, and it’s clear that West Ham are ready to make another offer as they bid to get a key transfer target into the club. They did really well to get Pablo Fornals in from Villarreal, and if they can pair him with Gomez then that would be fantastic. Whether the Hammers are willing to pay what it costs to sign the Uruguayan remains to be seen, but you’d think that they will go as high as is necessary.
