West Ham United still ones to watch in Harvey Barnes transfer race
Ben Jacobs has claimed he “wouldn’t discount West Ham” from signing Harvey Barnes, although Newcastle are increasing their effort for the winger, speaking to FootballFanCast.
The CBS journalist, who is credited with breaking West Ham’s deal for Lucas Paqueta last season, has confessed that he believes West Ham still have a chance at a deal for Barnes, with the Hammers labelled “ones to watch” despite reports in The Telegraph that Newcastle are set to sign the winger.
Barnes has been a long-standing target for West Ham who are looking to add quality to their wings this season after also being linked to Wilfried Zaha, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Dario Osorio in recent weeks.
Speaking to FootballFanCast recently, Jacobs claimed: “I would say that Newcastle are very much in this race for Harvey Barnes, he’s been a long-standing target and now that Leicester have gone down an exit is very likely.”
He then added: “I wouldn’t discount Tottenham, and I think that West Ham and Aston Villa are ones to watch”, making it clear that the Hammers could still be in with a chance of bringing Barnes to the club this summer despite contrasting reports.
If West Ham can gazump their rivals, it would be a huge deal
Barnes does look set to join Newcastle United this summer, with The Telegraph report being backed up elsewhere, but if West Ham do still stand a chance of luring Barnes to East London, they should do everything they can to make the deal happen.
The fee has been reported at between £35million and £40million, as Leicester look to get the highest possible fee for their star asset, which West Ham could match with the £105million from Arsenal’s Declan Rice deal.
The Hammers have been keen to add goals to their wide areas this season, targeting Barnes and Zaha as their main options, with Barnes scoring 13 Premier League goals last time out, while Zaha hit 14 in 2021/22 before his last season was blighted by injuries.
The Hammers could be set to miss out on both of these targets, however, as Newcastle close in on Barnes, and Zaha looks to be in advanced talks with a number of clubs [Sky Sports, 3 July].
The race is still on.
In other West Ham news, the club have named their price for a striker as one director flies in for talks.