West Ham bid £12.5m for Mohamed Bayo, agreement ‘within reach’ – report
West Ham have made a first offer of £12.5million for Clermont’s Guinea striker Mohamed Bayo, reports Le 10 Sport’s Alexis Bernard.
The French side are reportedly holding out for closer to €20million to see the international forward go, and the Hammers are looking closer to completing this signing than one for Hugo Ekitike.
Writing on his personal Twitter account the journalist said: “Besides Ekitike, West Ham is on Bayo (Clermont). First offer at €15m (£12.5m). Clermont wants €20m (£16.6m). More within reach of the English club as it stands”.
David Moyes has been linked with a number of striking options as he looks to provide support for Michail Antonio, who is currently the only central forward at the London Stadium, including Blackburn’s Ben Brereton Diaz and Dominic Calvert-Lewin from Everton.
The Express have quoted Diaz as costing £25million, while The Daily Mail report the latter would cost £60million so Bayo would be much more affordable.
The Athletic profiled the attacker in October and credited him as being a similar player to Luis Suarez, Mauro Icardi and Paco Alcacer.
Exciting option
If the 23-year-old could emulate any of those three names at a cost of just over £16.5million he would surely represent a steal for the Hammers.
It isn’t exactly spare change but the risk and pressure that comes with a price tag of that size is far different from the one that weighed so heavily on Sebastien Haller’s time in East London.
Bayo, who has scored twice in five international caps, was prolific in Ligue 2 last season, finding the net 22 times.
And the step up to the French top fight does not appear to have been too big of a leap for him as he has added another nine strikes so far.
The Premier League is a different proposition but so far the goalscorer has been equal to the challenges put in front of him.
If he can be brought in before the deadline he might be just what Moyes needs to revitalise the top four challenge.
In other West Ham news, the manager has shared his ideal model for transfers at the club.