West Ham see £13m bid rejected in phase one of late double forward raid
West Ham remain keen on pulling off a double forward swoop despite seeing an initial £13m bid for Bournemouth forward Josh King knocked back.
The domestic deadline for deals between Premier League and Championship clubs ends on Friday, October 16.
A few high-profile Championship stars have been linked with late departures, with recent reports putting West Ham firmly in the mix.
The Hammers had been thought to favour defensive additions. But with Grady Diangana’s controversial exit and Felipe Anderson’s loan departure, depth in the forward ranks is relatively thin on the ground.
As such, David Moyes’ side emerged as a contender to snap up Cherries hitman Josh King.
The 28-year-old had become a shock target for Man Utd in the January window. Odion Ighalo was ultimately favoured by The Red Devils, however, with King going on to suffer relegation back to the Championship with Bournemouth.
King has rarely featured in the new campaign amid rumours of an exit, and The Daily Mail report that West Ham have acted on their interest.
A £13m bid was lodged, but was swiftly rebuffed with The Cherries seeking a fee closer to £17.5m.
West Ham are said to be ‘weighing up a fresh move’ for King, who could yet arrive in a double swoop along with Brentford talisman Said Benrahma.
The Bees frontman is in a similar situation to King, and has found regular gametime in the new campaign limited amid the uncertainty over his future.
Reports on Saturday suggested The Hammers were in ‘advanced talks’ with Brentford over a deal that could be worth as much as £25m.
The Daily Mail article backs up these claims, stating the club are ‘pushing ahead with their attempts’ to land the exciting winger.
West Ham fell short on deadline day
Meanwhile, West Ham saw a deadline day bid for Strasbourg defender Mohamed Simakan rejected, according to reports in France.
The Hammers were in the market for a new centre-back to provide competition for Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and Fabian Balbuena all summer. However, they failed to get any deal over the line before the deadline.
There is still a chance that West Ham will be able to add a new defender next week, before the deadline for Premier League clubs and EFL clubs to do business with each other. They have been linked with Watford’s Craig Dawson, for example.
Now, it has emerged that they could have got their hands on a Ligue 1 prospect. According to Le10 Sport (via Sport Witness), West Ham made a bid on deadline day.
