Keith Gillespie: Blackburn won’t stand in way of West Ham-linked Adam Armstrong
BBC Northern Ireland pundit Keith Gillespie claims Blackburn won’t stand in the way of West Ham-linked striker Adam Armstrong if he wants to quit Ewood Park.
In February, The Sun reported that David Moyes is a fan of the 24-year-old striker and is planning a bid to sign him in the summer transfer window.
Armstrong has scored 26 goals in 42 appearances across all competitions for Blackburn this season, including four in his last two Championship outings.
It is understood that Blackburn want at least £10million for the former Newcastle striker and ex-Rovers star Gillespie believes there’s bound to be interest in him in the summer.
“He’s been a regular goalscorer in the Championship for them,” Gillespie told FootballFanCast.
“So when Blackburn in the last couple of seasons haven’t really looked like they’re going to promoted, like they’re going to get in the play-offs, you know if a club comes in for him I’m sure that they won’t want to stand in his way.”
Gillespie added: “He’s been loyal to them, he’s been scoring goals week in week out, and I’m sure there’s been interest in him before and he’s stayed at the club.
“But now I’m sure he wants to make that next step, if there’s Premiership clubs interested in him he’ll want to make that move, and you can’t blame him.”
Armstrong to spearhead attack next season?
West Ham need a new centre-forward in the summer and while Armstrong has been in superb form at Ewood Park this season, he would certainly smack as a cheap option.
We’ve seen the Irons linked with Ivan Toney and Tammy Abraham, who would no doubt cost way more than Armstrong in the summer.
However, the ex-Newcastle striker does have a bit of Premier League experience having made 15 top-flight appearances during his time at St James’ Park and he’s been banging in the goals for fun with Blackburn.
Former West Ham striker Dean Ashton was thoroughly impressed by Armstrong when speaking about him on EFL on Quest earlier this season.
“He’s just grown as a player in the last year, year and a half, and what I love about the way he finishes is he’s always so calm and composed,” said Ashton.
“That’s something that rarely you come by certainly at this level. You can see he’s got all types of finishes I’ve seen him score long-range, in the six-yard box, headers.
“He’s got everything about him, he could easily be the top scorer this season.”
Would Armstrong be better than Michail Antonio?
He’s certainly younger and could offer something very different to Antonio as he’s someone who’s pacy and prefers the ball coming to him on the ground.
David Moyes could go one of two ways when finding a striker; find someone who could be a like-for-like Antonio replacement or find someone who is the total opposite.
Armstrong would fall in the category of being opposite to Antonio but one thing is for sure, he’s shown that he knows where the back of the net is at Blackburn this season.
In other West Ham news, there’s been a huge update on Moyes’ future at the London Stadium.
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