West Ham United positioned for Youssef En-Nesyri bid despite Tottenham transfer threat
Sevilla cannot wait for a bidding war to break out between West Ham and Tottenham for Youssef En-Nesyri, according to Dario de Sevilla.
The Spanish outlet indicated on their website (4 June) that the club needs to sell their star striker before 30 June, with Julen Lopetegui’s arrival at the London Stadium this summer positioning the club strongly to make a bid.
En-Nesyri bid a tearful goodbye to the Sevilla fans as he was substituted in the 90th minute of the team’s La Liga finale against Barcelona, after scoring in a 2-1 defeat (26 May).
The Moroccan is set to be sold because the club badly needs cash and he has a year left on his contract, with the Sevilla hierarchy hoping for around €30million [£25.5m].
Julen Lopetegui favourite could finally arrive at West Ham
It would have to go down as a major fumble for the Irons to have tailed En-Nesyri for years and then lose out to a London rival just as one of his former manager’s is appointed at the London Stadium.
There looks to be a buyer’s market at Sevilla so the asking price might seem optimistic for a player who has only a year left on his deal and likely won’t retain much resale value at his age.
But scorers always carry a premium and the fee isn’t outrageous after a 20-goal season, including 16 in La Liga, especially if Lopetegui feels he knows how to get the best out of his former forward.
En-Nesyri scored 24, including 18 in the league, for the new West Ham boss four seasons ago and would immediately upgrade the Irons squad if he could something similar in England.
There appears to be money to spend on a striker after a bid worth more than £30m in total was tabled at Atletico Madrid for Samu Omorodion [Marcos Duran, 4 June].
But when the transfer window looks set to be an expensive one with multiple new arrivals likely required it is unclear how many big-money options the club can hope to land at once.
In other West Ham news, a medical update has emerged with Tim Steidten working overtime to get a deal done in person.
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