Fabrizio Romano: West Ham make contact over Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah
West Ham have made contact over a move for Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah, according to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano.
The transfer guru made the claim on his Twitch account on Friday night [09/07/21].
He said: “Nketiah to Crystal Palace? They are among the clubs asking for him, many many clubs, also West Ham and Bayer Leverkusen.
“At the moment he has not yet accepted a bid from Arsenal so his situation is really open and I’m really curious to see what will happen on this part.”
Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth said on Monday [05/07/21] that Nketiah “will leave in this transfer window” after rejecting a new deal from Arsenal.
Abraham alternative?
Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has long been mooted as the perfect West Ham striker to replace Sebastien Haller and challenge Michail Antonio for a place in the Irons attack.
Indeed, ExWHUemployee claimed on the June 1st episode of his West Ham Way podcast that Abraham was David Moyes’ “number one target”.
The 23-year-old looks destined to leave our London rivals after falling out of favour under Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge, but a move to the London Stadium looks to have gone stale amid his hefty reported price tag [Mirror].
Therefore, Nketiah may well be an attractive proposition if he really is set on leaving Arsenal this summer.
He’s smaller than Abraham, standing at five-feet-eleven-inches tall, but Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has praised his “powerful” forward after a game last year [Arsenal official website], and he’s certainly not afraid to get about the pitch, as was to his detriment when he was red-carded against Leicester City in July 2020.
Nketiah only scored twice in the Premier League last term but West Ham fans will know all about one of them after he netted the winner in a 2-1 victory over the Irons in September 2020.
He may end up scoring for them now, if a deal is pursued all the way.
In other West Ham news, this big-name star is on the verge of an Irons exit according to a BBC journalist..
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