View: West Ham suffer big blow as Arsenal lead race for Darwin Nunez
West Ham look to have suffered a huge blow in the race to sign Benfica forward Darwin Nunez.
The Hammers were hopeful of securing the signature of the Uruguayan striker in a last-gasp January move, as per Sky Sports.
Premier League rivals Arsenal are now said to be leading the race according to reports by Portuguese outlet Record.
David Moyes and the Irons chief will be devastated with the Champions League looking to be the decisive factor in the transfer, something the Irons are agonisingly close to.
Big loss
It would be hugely disappointing if Nunez joined Arsenal over West Ham purely based on Champions League football.
Despite leading the race, the Gunners haven’t even secured a top-four finish yet which makes these reports a little confusing.
They have hardly even featured in the competition for the best part of a decade and aren’t guaranteed to be playing UCL football on a regular basis given their inconsistent form this season. With that being said, the north London outfit does look to be entering a new era under Mikel Arteta.
The decisive factor in the move is likely to be money. Arsenal are surely willing to pay much more than the Hammers ever would so a move to the London Stadium wouldn’t make sense for Nunez.
It is a real shame but there are silver linings. The Hammers are in for top quality players in the summer, already.
The Benfica man is the type of player who will take a team to the next level and if the irons can get a couple of those over the line in the summer, it would be great.
In other West Ham news, Vladimir Coufal is to return from injury after the international break – report.
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