West Ham ramp up pursuit of Blackburn striker Armstrong – report
West Ham are stepping up their interest in Blackburn striker Adam Armstrong, according to The Sun.
David Moyes is reportedly a fan of the 23-year-old and wants scouts to keep a close eye on him for the rest of the season.
The report suggests West Ham considered an £8million bid for Armstrong in the January window.
And it adds Rovers want £10million-plus for Armstrong, but will be ready to let him go if they fail to achieve promotion – which looks likely currently since they are six points off the play-offs.
Striker hunt continues
Michail Antonio’s departure from the pitch against Fulham due to injury underlines the fact we needed to sign a striker in January.
That man could have been Armstrong since we are still interested in the Blackburn man now.
However, we are glad the club have waited as we have a mixed record when it comes to signig players from the Championship.
Striker Jordan Hugill was a big flop but Jarrod Bowen has proved he is Premier League quality since joining.
Perhaps David Moyes is right to do a bit more homework on Armstrong.
However, up until this season the former Newcastle striker had struggled a little on the goal front.
A return of 18 goals already this term is impressive but prior to 2020/21 he had scored 35 goals in 117 games, which included some appearances in League One.
Contrast that to another Hammers target in Ivan Toney, who has scored 62 league goals in the last two-and-a-half years.
That includes 22 goals in 27 games for Brentford this season.
Toney will likely cost a lot more than Armstrong, but it is clear that he is destined to succeed in the Premier League.
A comparison with former Brentford player Ollie Watkins hints at that, as Watkins already has ten Premier League goals this term.
Armstrong would be more of a gamble, and it will be interesting to see if he can maintain his form when he knows our scouts are watching.
In other West Ham news, ‘Got absolutely everything’ – Connolly says Soucek can go down as West Ham great.