West Ham make approach to sign Manchester City ace Oleksandr Zinchenko, £35m fee revealed
West Ham have made an approach to sign Manchester City left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, according to the Scottish Daily Mail.
The newspaper reported via their print edition on Friday (15 July, page 75) that Arsenal are in talks to sign the 25-year-old Ukraine international, who’s valued at around £35million by Premier League champions Man City.
West Ham have approached the Citizens with an enquiry about potentially signing Zinchenko but it is understood that Chelsea and Everton have done too this summer.
Get him in
It’s unclear how much West Ham have left to spend this summer after completing the signings of Nayef Aguerd, Alphonse Areola and Flynn Downes.
However, it’s clear that David Moyes needs to strengthen his left-back, central midfield and striker options before the end of the transfer window.
Will he have enough money to buy top-class players in each position? It seems unlikely.
But in Zinchenko, Moyes would be signing a player who’s adept at playing both in the heart of the midfield, in an attacking midfield role and as a left-back.
Pep Guardiola, who dubbed the Ukrainian “incredible” in 2019 [talkSPORT], has mainly played Zinchenko at left-back but for Ukraine, he impressed earlier in the summer when he played in their midfield in the World Cup qualifying play-offs versus Scotland and Wales.
While £35million seems steep, Moyes could be killing two birds with one stone by landing the ex-PSV ace, who’s a vastly under-rated player in the Premier League due to the fact he’s not a regular starter at Man City.
We’d like to see this deal done.
However, Arsenal have reportedly opened talks and they seem to be in the driving seat at this stage having already signed one player from Man City in Gabriel Jesus.
West Ham shouldn’t wait around if they see this as a big opportunity to strengthen the squad.
Zinchenko would play a lot more for us than he would at the Emirates.