West Ham Zone speaking to Frank McAvennie

Fri 25 June 2021 18:40, UK

We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…

Frank McAvennie has sent a transfer warning to West Ham as they reportedly set their sights on Ukraine striker Roman Yaremchuk.

Express Sport reported on June 15 that the Irons were interested in signing the towering Gent forward this summer, after a year-long scouting mission.

This was followed by a tweet from Italian journalist Rudy Galetti, who regularly appears on Il Pallone Gonfiato, who claimed Gent would be willing to sell the 25-year-old for £17.1million.

The striker has impressed for Ukraine at this summer’s European Championships, scoring in their first two group games as they progressed to the tournament’s knock-out stages.

This comes after a season where he scored 20 goals Belgian Pro League goals in 34 appearances for Gent.

However, ex-Irons forward McAvennie has urged caution after the club splashed out on Swiss forward Albian Ajeti from Basel in 2019.

“Moyes will have to have another look because he won’t want another Ajeti that’s for sure,” McAvennie told West Ham Zone.

“He scored 22 goals in the Swiss league and then he didn’t do anything, so I’ll think he’ll be very careful with that.“

Different

There may be parallels between Ajeti and Yaremchuk in that they both scored plenty of goals in a less-competitive European league, but the latter can lay claim to being much more proven.

Ajeti was three years Yaremchuk’s junior when he moved to east London in 2019, with just one international goal to his name.

The Ukranian, meanwhile, already has ten to his name, two of which came at Euro 2020.

That includes a goal against the Netherlands containing the defensive talents of Stefan de Vrij in their ranks.

Yaremchuk also boasts an enviable European record for Gent, with 10 goals in 22 appearances.

At six-foot three-inches tall he looks a much more fearsome prospect than Ajeti, while still possessing the fleet-footed abilities that allow him to make runs in behind defences.

We don’t think this would be Ajeti 2.0 at all.

In other West Ham news, the price has been slashed on the eighth-most prolific striker in Europe the Irons want to sign.

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