West Ham United transfer news: Harvey Barnes Leicester City exit delay amid three-way battle with Arsenal and Tottenham
West Ham face competition from London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham for the signature of Harvey Barnes this summer, according to the Daily Mail.
The Leicester winger is set to leave the King Power after relegation from the Premier League, and Jacob Steinberg reported in The Guardian on 9 June that the Hammers were leading the race to sign him.
But amid the parallel push from a number of clubs to sign his Foxes teammate James Maddison The Mail now suggests there could be a delay in Barnes departing as Leicester work how what they want for him.
A £40million valuation had previously been mooted, with West Ham looking to come in £10million below, but if a bidding war is on the cards it appears his club may be eyeing an increase.
Frustrating
It won’t be the development that West Ham want if they are looking to tie up a move for an exciting attacker who is suddenly available due to relegation.
But it is ultimately a very similar situation in reverse to the one that sees the Irons in no hurry to sanction Declan Rice’s sale for anything other than the best offer available.
Clearly the club are going to be in the money either way when that exit goes through but they won’t automatically want to funnel it straight back out to overpay for their targets.
The problem for David Moyes is that sellers who know the buyer has just come into a major windfall are always incentivised to make it awkward.
Barnes, 25, seems like exactly the sort of player who could flourish under Moyes just like Jarrod Bowen has, and in contrast to some of last summer’s arrivals who appear not to fit the Scot’s style so well.
Whether the Champions League could put Arsenal at the forefront of the race or not remains to be seen, as first-team football may become a greater challenge.
West Ham have appeared well placed to land Barnes so far, but the longer the delays go on the more opportunity there is for that to change.