West Ham United could be dealt a really big transfer blow by Arsenal it seems, either in January or next summer.
Both West Ham and Arsenal enjoyed successful summer transfer windows, but both teams missed out on one big signing in particular.
The addition of a young, pacy and explosive striker eluded both the Hammers and the Gunners.
Tim Steidten was behind all of our summer signings, and indeed the appointment of Lopetegui.
The West Ham fans were delighted with our summer business, and rightly so.
However, much more work needs to be done. Lopetegui desperately needs to bring a young striker with plenty of pace to the London Stadium – someone who can compete with Niclas Fullkrug and Michail Antonio.
But the dream signing will no longer be attainable for us unfortunately.
Arsenal in for West Ham target Jhon Duran
According to Caught Offside, Arsenal are keen to sign Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran in a deal that could cost up to £60 million.
Well, if our dreams of signing Duran weren’t already dead in the water, they definitely are now.
What a shame it is that the Hammers didn’t push harder for the Colombia international in the summer, even if Aston Villa were demanding more than £40 million for him.
The Hammers weren’t quite able to get a deal for the Aston Villa man over the line in the end, and it was claimed that the west Midlands outfit were asking for north of £40 million for the striker.
At one point, it seemed certain that Duran would join the Hammers from Aston Villa, after he did the ‘crossed hammers’ sign during a live stream.
In the end, Julen Lopetegui brought Niclas Fullkrug to the London Stadium from Borussia Dortmund instead.
Whether the German comes good or not remains to be seen, but it’s clear to see that we made a big error by not signing Duran.
Described as a ‘world-class’ player by Yahoo, the 20-year-old is well on the path to becoming one of the very best and most feared strikers in world football.
Some Hammers fans were holding out hope that we could go back in for the Villa hitman in January or next summer.
However, that clearly won’t be happening now, and not just because of the fact that he’s signed a new long-term deal with Villa.
If Arsenal make a concrete move to sign Jhon Duran, West Ham’s hopes of bringing him to the London Stadium will be well and truly dead in the water.
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