West Ham in talks to sign Leipzig striker Hee-Chan, Moyes to have final say – Sky Sports
West Ham are negotiating a deal for RB Leipzig forward Hwang Hee-Chan with David Moyes set to make the final decision on a move, according to Sky Sports.
After selling club-record signing Sebastien Haller to Ajax earlier in the window the Irons have been in desperate need of attacking cover for main man Michail Antonio.
Despite the failings of Haller after they bought him from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019 West Ham have returned to the Bundesliga to move for Hee-Chan.
Sky Sports report that the Irons are speaking to Leipzig over a move for the South Korean but that Moyes will make the final decision before any deal is sanctioned.
Hee-Chan only joined from sister club RB Salzburg last summer after scoring three Champions League goals in the 2019/20 campaign including one against Liverpool at Anfield.
However he has endured a dismal start to the season and only has a DFB Pokal goal to his name while failing to fire in seven Bundesliga appearances.
Bring him in – now
West Ham simply cannot afford to step into the second half of the season with only one senior striker at the club.
Failure to bring in a new forward will be the first nail in the coffin of our sensational start to the season.
Sitting in fourth position in the Premier League after 20 games now is the time to kick on and assemble a strong squad that can see us compete for the European places this season.
The sky is the limit as long as the board match the ambition shown on the field.
Antonio is an essential member of the West Ham starting XI but he cannot be expected to shoulder the striking burden by himself.
He has missed eight Premier League game this season through injury and has only reached 30 top-flight appearances once in a single campaign (2018/19) showing his lack of durability.
With wingers Andriy Yarmolenko and Jarrod Bowen seemingly acting as current back-ups to Antonio this is a mess that needs resolving.
Hee-Chan might have had a difficult start to life at Leipzig but he showed his undoubted quality in Europe’s elite competition last season and even bamboozled one of the world’s top defenders in Virgil van Dijk during Salsburg’s 4-3 defeat an Anfield in 2019.
With time running out in the transfer window they would be minded to move quickly to secure his services and ensure the Irons are not left short for the rest of the season.
In other West Ham news, our view on Antonio’s Crystal Palace disasterclass.