West Ham United: £12.8m+ Vangelis Pavlidis exit news emerges after Hammers transfer speculation
West Ham have received a boost after transfer news has now emerged on AZ Alkmaar forward Vangelis Pavlidis.
Florian Plettenberg tweeted on Wednesday (3 April) that the Greek international is planning a move away from the Dutch club in the summer, with up to eight teams interested in signing him.
The Sky Sports Germany journalist added that the 25-year-old, who Louis van Gaal is a “big fan of”, is valued at between €15-18million (£12.9-£15.4million) as his contract is set to expire in 2025.
The Hammers have previously been linked with a move for the forward after his exploits in the Eredivisie over the past couple of seasons.
90min reported on its website on 23 October that the Irons were present to see him score a hat-trick for AZ against Heerenveen on 20 October.
It comes as no surprise that several clubs are interested in the striker after he’s now registered 28 goals and four assists in 40 appearances during this campaign.
The fee in question is also pretty modest for a player with such an impressive goal record, but that could potentially rise if a bidding war is to ensue this summer.
The Greek probably caught the Irons’ attention when he featured against them in the Europa Conference League last season, where his side suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the semi-finals of the competition.
There is no doubt that the club’s hierarchy will be keen to strengthen their forward line once the summer transfer window opens, having been left short up top during this campaign.
While Michail Antonio has shown his quality again lately since his return from a lengthy injury, he isn’t a long-term solution and needs support to help share the load.
The answer isn’t to suggest Jarrod Bowen can play up front if the Jamaican international were to be sidelined again as, although he continued to score goals as a striker, he is much better on the wing.
With Danny Ings failing to show David Moyes that he is worthy of more minutes at the London Stadium, this is surely the summer where West Ham will look to bring in another striker.
They will be keen to learn from their previous mistakes in the transfer market, having drafted in Sebastien Haller and Gianluca Scamacca in big-money deals despite them not suiting the style of play.
This is a transfer that they simply have to get right and there is every reason to suggest Pavlidis could be the man to lead the line successfully at the London Stadium.
In other West Ham news, David Sullivan has been blasted over his “ridiculous” comments in response to a Hammers controversy.
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