West Ham United are now looking at a move to sign a £25m+ forward after securing a deal for Luis Guilherme.
West Ham set to sign Luis Guilherme
Julen Lopetegui, speaking after being announced as the new West Ham head coach to replace David Moyes last month, admitted he wants to put his own stamp on things at the London Stadium.
“We will try to put our stamp on the Club. I feel that we have a fantastic platform. I think the last few years have been very good years to have this base, of course, but my ambition as a coach is always to be better and better, to achieve more and bigger aims and to encourage and improve the players, the team, and to compete because football is about this – to compete. We are very ambitious about this.
“I am where I want to be. I am here because I want to be here and for us it was a fantastic day when we closed our agreement here because our commitment is 100 per cent to be here.”
To do that, there could be plenty of work to do on the training ground and in the transfer market, and it looks as if the Irons have now sealed a deal for Luis Guilherme to become their first summer signing.
As reported by Fabrizio Romano, a medical has been completed and a deal worth a potential €30m from Palmeiras is agreed, with contracts to be signed on Wednesday.
After Guilherme, though, it looks as if sporting director Tim Steidten is already working on more deals. Reports have suggested that contact has been made for Udinese defender Nehuen Perez, and an approach has also been made for a new forward.
West Ham make Jorgen Strand Larsen approach
According to reports abroad, relayed by Sport Witness, West Ham have made an approach to sign Celta Vigo attacker Jorgen Strand Larsen. Signed from Dutch side FC Groningen in 2022 for €12m, this summer appears to be the time for the La Liga side to cash in on the Norway international, and although he has a €50m release clause, Celta Vigo want around €30m (£25.3m).
Whether or not West Ham are willing to match that fee remains to be seen, with Larsen primarily a centre-forward who can also play on either wing.
Take out the goals of Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus last season and West Ham’s top scorer was central midfielder Tomas Soucek with 10, so looking to sign a new attacker appears to be a wise move by Lopetegui and Steidten.
With Larsen, the Hammers would be getting a 24-year-old striker who appears to be at the top of his game with a career-high €25m Transfermarkt valuation and one who has just scored 13 La Liga goals last season.
Prior to his time with Celta Vigo, Larsen also hit double figures for goals with Groningen in the Eredivisie in the 2021/22 campaign, so a deal could be a shrewd one, making this a deal to keep an eye on.