West Ham United enter Dominic Solanke transfer race amid talks between Tottenham and Bournemouth as striker allowed to leave
West Ham have now joined Tottenham in the race for Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke and are assessing the “feasibility” of the deal, according to Seb Ecrivain Foot.
The journalist reported via Twitter on 2 January that the Hammers had now initiated internal discussions over a move for the Cherries forward, having reported on 30 December that Spurs were already in talks over a fee.
Solanke, 26, will reportedly be allowed to move on during the January window if a club comes up with a “financially serious offer”.
The former Chelsea and Liverpool striker has scored 12 Premier League goals in 19 appearances so far this season, and has a single England cap from more than six years ago.
Reinforcements?
The failure to land a striker at the end of the summer has increasingly looked like the main oversight from what turned out to be a decent window.
Were it not for Jarrod Bowen’s excellent scoring form and the development of Mohammed Kudus then the lack of production up front could easily have derailed a largely-positive first half of the campaign.
Michail Antonio started fast but then faded and got injured, while Danny Ings’ West Ham career continues to look like it might never really get off the ground.
Solanke on the other hand looks to finally be realising the major potential he was deemed to have at Stamford Bridge as a youngster, and which he showed flashes of in the Championship, with his 12 goals putting him joint third in the Premier League scoring charts, one ahead of Bowen.
So it is little surprise that he is attracting plenty of attention, although the competition for his services and the fact that he is English will surely mean he is anything but cheap.
David Moyes is known to like players with experience in England, and the top flight in particular, so a push to land Solanke may be a priority for the Scot, who is suddenly looking secure for the long-term.
Having climbed to sixth in the table he is making an increasingly strong case, and an injection of goals from the striker position on top could yet turn this into an excellent season.
In other West Ham news, Fabrizio Romano reports that a departure from the London Stadium is set to be finalised with a six-figure fee attached.