Blackburn given boost as West Ham reveal hand with imminent striker bid

West Ham’s bid for Sevilla forward Youssef En-Nesyri has given Blackburn an idea of what they might pay for Adam Armstrong.

The Hammers are still searching for Sebastian Haller’s replacement after letting the Frenchman leave for Ajax. The East End outfit have been linked with many strikers since the transfer window opened.

Reports on Monday claim they are readying a bid for En-Nesyri, said to be in the region of £27m. Spanish outlet Estadio Deportivo has made it clear that the La Liga outfit will not do business at that price.

A ‘significantly higher’ offer is needed for the Londoners to have any chance of landing their man. It remains to be seen if West Ham do raise their bid.

An alternative could be Rovers hot-shot Armstrong. Having wandered from loan club to loan club after leaving Newcastle, he is now settled at Ewood Park.

And the goals have flowed this term, with 16 from 23 Championship outings. That is already the equal of last season’s tally, with many more expected from the north-east native.

The 23-year-old has been linked with a few clubs. David Moyes is said to be ‘very keen’ on the youngster but there has been no bid to date.

The current pandemic means that purse strings are tight in the football world. There are not expected to be any mega-deals completed this month.

Loans could be the order of the day as clubs try to bolster their ranks for a push in the second half of the campaign. But West Ham have now shown their hand and Rovers’ officials know they have cash to spend if they want Armstrong.

Armstrong won’t come cheap

Steve Waggott and Tony Mowbray have stated that it will take an ‘exceptional fee’ for any club to buy Armstrong. Chief Executive Waggott has mentioned £30m as the benchmark figure for any talks to begin over the striker.

The Premier League club seem prepared to part with close to that sum for En-Nesyri. And they will need to come up with a similar figure for Rovers’ superstar.

Morocco ace En-Nesyri remains their priority, however, and a successful bid will end the interest in Armstrong – for now.

The Hammers are also said to be pondering a bid for a Ligue 1 attacker. Montpellier’s Gaetan Laborde is reportedly interesting Moyes. The former France Under-20 international has netted six times and assisted six more so far this season.

 

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