West Ham United set to miss out on Keane Lewis-Potter to Brentford despite higher finances
West Ham look set to miss out on Hull City’s Keane Lewis-Potter despite being able to offer more money, according to 90mins’ Toby Cudworth.
The Hammers have been in the market for the 21-year-old for months, but after looking like the primary destination if he went anywhere Brentford are now “confident” of landing him [90min].
The Bees believe that an offer of £16million, rising to £20million with add-ons, will be enough to capture the youngster, which would leave David Moyes to move onto one of his “plenty” other targets.
Cudworth wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night: “WHUFC likely to miss out on Keane Lewis-Potter to Brentford as it stands. More money would be on offer at London Stadium but unlikely to match the number of starts KLP would get at.
“West Ham have plenty of other targets, as everybody knows.”
No disaster, but concern
With alternatives this deal not getting done is unlikely to completely destroy the manager’s plans for next season, but they will need to actually secure one to make up for it.
If the price quoted as likely to send him to one of the club’s London rivals is accurate then it certainly looks like a doable one that has gone begging.
The fact that 90min still had the Irons leading the race less than two weeks ago (23 June) after both Brentford and Watford had bids rejected, yet no further action was taken is disappointing.
While Moyes continues to struggle in his long-term pursuit of Jesse Lingard, and the move for Arnaut Danjuma broke down it looks like another attacking player is slipping through his fingers.
Add to that the club appear to be being edged out of the race for Armando Broja and there is a growing frustration around their ability to complete transfer business even when apparently well-positioned.
And it may seem an extra let-down in this case due to the obvious comparisons with Jarrod Bowen’s move from the Tigers before developing into a Premier League star and new England international at the London Stadium.
Whether it is admirable caution or a worrying habit of losing names that could help push the club to the next level will presumably become clear over the coming season, depending on how well the growing list of names do elsewhere.
At this stage it doesn’t feel great for fans expecting players through the door to boost a thin squad, but Moyes has built up capital with the job he has done so perhaps there is a method to current developments.