West Ham United need to forget ambitious move for Leon Goretzka after latest update
West Ham must drop their interest in Bayern Munich ace Leon Goretzka after the German made it clear where he sees his future.
That future is certainly not in East London after the 28-year-old reportedly does not want to leave the Bundesliga champions this summer and is set to remain in Munich [Florian Plettenberg].
Christian Falk backed up these claims when writing on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing on Thursday (21 July), stating that “probably nothing” will happen on the transfer front for the Champions League winner.
Falk wrote: “Goretzka doesn’t want to change clubs this summer, he wants to play for Bayern Munich. Nothing will happen with Kimmich because they don’t want to sell and probably nothing with Goretzka as he doesn’t want to leave.”
But West Ham must discard this transfer as quickly as Goretzka discarded any move.
The search for a Declan Rice replacement trudges on after he was finally confirmed as Arsenal’s marquee signing earlier this month, but the German is clearly not the answer.
While West Ham are certainly a club on the rise due to their European success last season and enormous transfer kitty, they will still find it tough to attract world-class talent like Goretzka and should aim a bit lower to continue building.
Statistically, Goretzka would have been more than an adequate replacement for the Hammers’ former captain. The German earned more attacking touches in the penalty area with 2.20 per 90 (82nd percentile), blocks per 90 with 2.04 (97th percentile) and shots per 90 with 2.16 (95th percentile) [FBRef], showing his versatility and quality midfield profile.
West Ham have many other midfield options on their plate, most notably Denis Zakaria who is edging closer and closer to a move to the London Stadium [Daily Mail], but will have to fork out up to £17milion for the recent Chelsea loanee [Tuttosport].
But, Goretzka is not the answer as much as West Ham fans wish he was. If West Ham continue on their current trajectory, continue to develop the squad with the £105million cash injection from Rice and improve their Premier League position, then perhaps Goretzka-calibre players will one day strut their stuff at the London Stadium.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers are reportedly stepping up their interest in James Ward Prowse, but the proposed “sweetener” tastes sour to Southampton.