West Ham lead hunt for Sunderland midfielder Josh Hawkes
West Ham and Crystal Palace are the frontrunners to sign Sunderland Under-23s star Josh Hawkes this summer, according to TEAMtalk.
The online news outlet claims the Premier League pair head the chase for the 22-year-old who has taken the Premier League 2 (Division Two) by storm this season, scoring 13 goals in 20 appearances from midfield, a record labelled “ridiculous” by Roker Report on their verified Twitter profile.
That has alerted a host of Premier League clubs, including Leeds United and Newcastle United, who are ready to make a bid for Hawkes with just one year left on his Black Cats contract.
He only joined the Wearside club last year from Hartlepool United where he made two League Two outings before spending three seasons in the National League.
Hawkes was called a “revelation” by The Northern Echo journalist Nick Loughlin in 2019 during his time at the club and he looks to have honed his talents further up the pyramid since, albeit in the second-string divisions.
Eyes everywhere
We’ve had great success in the recent transfer windows by identifying alternative markets so this could be another smart pick-up by the Irons.
Jarrod Bowen, Said Benrahma and Craig Dawson were all signed from Championship clubs last year and have gone on to enjoy success at the London Stadium, while Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal were brought in from Czech Republic side Slavia Prague to great effect.
Clubs don’t always need to make blockbuster signings to progress and that’s been evident at West Ham, with the aforementioned quintet in stark contrast to club-record signing Sebastien Haller, who was sold to Ajax in January after failing to spark into form.
At 22, Hawkes is a senior at Under-23s level, but he might just be a late bloomer who can be a surprise star for us.
It’s unlikely he’d be thrown straight into the first-team picture but he could be a savvy purchase with just one year left on his Sunderland deal.
In other West Ham news, ‘Wow’ – Robbie Savage takes bizarre swipe at Irons & mocks midfielder after pundit names Premier League Team of the Season.
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