‘West Ham target summer move for Sampdoria hitman’

West Ham have reportedly been alerted to the form of Sampdoria striker Luis Muriel and are said to be considering a summer bid.

The Colombia international, who has scored 10 goals and has nine assists to his name in 28 games for the Serie A side this season, is believed to have a release clause of £24million.

Slaven Bilic is desperate to bring in a top class central striker this summer, particularly with Andy Carroll attracting interest from China, according to a report in the Daily Mirror.

The Hammers have also been linked with Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge, AC Milan star Carlos Bacca and Chelsea’s back-up hitman Michy Batshuayi in the last couple of transfer windows.

Muriel, however, has revealed that he has had interest from other clubs: “The future? I’m happy at Sampdoria, because we’ve won two derbies [against their city rivals Genoa] for the first time in 57 years.

“But I’ve had several offers from Juventus, Inter, Milan and Roma in Italy, but also from abroad — in Spain and England.”

If West Ham do pursue Muriel they will be hoping it goes better than fellow Serie A recruit Simone Zaza’s spell at the club. He was sent packing from a season-long spell from Juventus in January after picking up a knee injury and having failed to score a goal for the club.