OPINION
Adrian Durham claimed there wasn’t a team in the Premier League that wouldn’t benefit from signing Bournemouth attacker Callum Wilson and surely that should have West Ham revving up their pursuit.
The Sun reported on Friday that the Hammers were lining up a £35million move for the 27-year-old forward and claimed that Wilson’s potential exit all depended on whether a side could offer Bournemouth a tempting enough package to convince them to sell.
Yet given that Durham is right to be sceptical that £35million is enough for a player who could even be considered an option for Manchester City to look at, as he has plenty of time left on his current deal, then the Hammers have to act sooner rather than later.
“Callum Wilson has signed a new four-year contract last summer so it’s not as if he is running out of time so they had to get rid,” said Durham on talkSPORT (16:07, Friday, June 21st).
“Yet we’re hearing £35million will secure the signing of Bournemouth and England striker Callum Wilson, and I was going to scan the Premier League table for who should sign him and I couldn’t find a club that wouldn’t benefit from having him in their squad or in their team.”
“Even Man City could do with them with their options up front.”
West Ham will likely have to thrash it out with the Cherries when it comes to Wilson and likely up the amount their willing to pay, but they also need to act quickly as Durham is right to effectively sing his praises.
If other Premier League clubs catch wind of Bournemouth being willing to sell the forward, they will likely provide the Hammers with tough competition.
Wilson scored 14 goals in 30 league outings for the Cherries in his 2018/19 while contributing 10 assists also and that means he was involved with an impressive 42% of their goals in the Premier League in their latest campaign (Source: Transfermarkt).
The 27-year-old is also a worthwhile forward for a side to have on their books as he’s not one-dimensional.
Wilson showed his ability to score goals in different ways as seven of his league goals came with his preferred right foot, while three were also put into the back of the net by his left foot as well as him headed three goals home. (Source: Premier League)
This makes him a formidable force and shows how he’d fit into Manuel Pellegrini’s team whether they opt to play with the ball on the ground or in the air, which is a rare quality to unearth.
However based on Durham’s remarks, if the Hammers are gonna get a deal done for Wilson they need to rev up their pursuit as it seems likely others will join the chase.