Blackburn boss responds as West Ham are linked with striker Adam Armstrong
Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has confirmed Premier League interest in Championship hot-shot Adam Armstrong amid reports linking him to West Ham.
Armstrong has enjoyed a terrific season at Ewood Park and is behind only Brentford’s Ivan Toney in the race for the Golden Boot after bagging 17 league goals in the current campaign.
A recent report by The Sun set tongues wagging around the East End after detailing Irons interest in the 23-year-old with David Moyes a fan of the striker and he apparently considered an £8million offer in January.
As quoted by the Lancashire Telegraph Mowbray confirmed there was interest in the striker but that talks stopped short of formal bids, saying: “Am I surprised? Probably yes. I’m not disappointed, but am I surprised? I thought the phone might have rung.
“I’ve had a conversation with a couple of Premier League managers but they’ve not been pushy, just enquired.”
Armstrong has endured his toughest spell of the season in front of goal recently with just one goal in his last five games but will hope to put that to the side soon and help fire Blackburn to the play-offs.
Summer swoop?
Mowbray did not disclose whether Moyes was one of those Premier League managers that he had been in communication with but with the club scrambling for a striker in January and their reported interest in Armstrong one would hope that he was.
The Irons are crying out for a striker and this was epitomised in the draw at Craven Cottage on Saturday when they were unable to force their way past a struggling Fulham side.
Michail Antonio has suffered from injuries this season and Moyes is understandably cautious with how many minutes he is allocated, particularly as he eyes a run to the latter stages of the FA Cup alongside their European march.
Andriy Yarmolenko was moved to a centre forward role after Antonio was substituted on Saturday but he looked uncomfortable in an unfamiliar position and posed little to no threat to the Fulham backline.
A striker of any sorts would have been useful after the departure of club-record signing Sebastien Haller and Armstrong fits the profile of signings that Moyes has been after of late.
Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma have both enjoyed success at the London Stadium after making the step-up from the Championship so there is belief that Moyes can work wonders with unpolished diamonds in the divisions below.
Perhaps Mowbray can expect a call in the summer with a bit more substance behind it.
In other West Ham news, our view on what went wrong for Michail Antonio v Fulham.