West Ham United set for January transfer battle with Crystal Palace for Hugo Ekitike
West Ham United are prepared to enter a transfer battle with Crystal Palace to sign Hugo Ekitike in the January transfer window, according to the Evening Standard.
The newspaper reported on its website on Wednesday (6 December) that both the Hammers and the Eagles are keen on signing the striker, with PSG willing to let the 21-year-old depart either on loan or permanently for the right price.
David Moyes’ side are in the hunt for the centre-forward as their only two first-team strikers, Michail Antonio and Danny Ings are not trusted to provide a regular source of goals, with Jarrod Bowen relied upon in the early stages of the campaign.
Both Palace and the Irons attempted to sign the 21-year-old in the summer, with Roy Hodgson’s side even holding talks with the striker and both the clubs are interested in reigniting their interest when the window opens once again.
There had been suggestions that Newcastle were interested in signing Ekitike after believing they had twice agreed a deal in 2022, but Eddie Howe’s side are not interested in signing the forward in the new year.
A new number nine
As soon as Gianluca Scamacca was sold during the summer transfer window, it became incredibly obvious that West Ham needed to be in the market for a new number nine. For whatever reason they couldn’t find one in the summer, but now they have to act quickly in January.
Bowen’s excellent form managed to cover the lack of goals from Ings and Antonio in the early stages of the season, but the England international is much better when deployed out wide. To return to his natural position, Moyes needs a new option.
Ekitike seems to fit that criteria and he is clearly highly thought of by those in charge at the London Stadium given their pursuit of him across multiple transfer windows.
The 21-year-old has only made one Ligue 1 appearance this season and only made 12 starts last season, but showed during the 2021/22 campaign that he knows where the net is as he scored ten goals in only 14 league starts.
Signing him would represent a bit of a gamble, but the Irons need a new centre-forward and cannot afford to lose out to Palace. If Ekitike is of genuine interest this January, West Ham have to get the deal done, whether it’s a loan or a permanent switch.
In other West Ham news, the Irons are prepared to sell Pablo Fornals this summer despite his new contract extension