West Ham United transfer news as Al-Ettifaq in contact for Michail Antonio deal
West Ham United are open to selling Michail Antonio with Al-Ettifaq making contact to sign the striker, according to Santi Aouna.
The Foot Mercato journalist tweeted from his account on Monday (28 August) that the Saudi Club managed by Steven Gerrard are interested in signing Antonio before the transfer window closes on September 1.
Antonio has been in contact with Al-Etiffaq and West Ham are open to completing the transfer if the right offer is made, despite him starting in the win over Brighton on Saturday (26 August).
The Jamaican forward has started the season in excellent form, scoring against both Brighton and Chelsea but has been the subject of plenty of transfer speculation throughout the summer, with suggestions that Antonio would like to leave should the Hammers sign another striker [Steve Kay, 27 August].
Busy final days
West Ham’s business throughout this entire summer window has been incredibly sensible and shrewd up until now, making sure they have received healthy fees whenever they have sold a player and spent wisely on their problem areas.
But selling Antonio with only days left of the transfer window could cause chaos as the Irons still need more goals in their side with or without their man forward. If they lose him as well they are incredibly short of options up top.
The Hammers will only sanction such a sale if they have a replacement lined-up and it looks as though they are interested in Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri, so if Antonio’s departure is because of his arrival this will make more sense.
Although Antonio has started this season, he has never been the sort of prolific forward the Moyes has needed at the London Stadium for the Hammers to truly kick on but he has always been a versatile and reliable option for the Scottish manager to use.
If he does leave the Irons, it will be with a feeling of goodwill from a majority of the fans.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have already identified their next priority having signed Mohammed Kudus