West Ham make £26m bid for Sevilla forward Youssef En-Nesyri

Nicholas Hughes

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 3 min read

West Ham appear eager to bring in attacking reinforcements this winter, with Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri reportedly in their sights after selling Sebastien Haller to Ajax earlier in the window.

The Athletic have reported the Hammers sent in a bid of £26 million for the Moroccan who has enjoyed a breakout season in La Liga so far, with eight goals across 17 appearances of which only 10 have been starts.

David Moyes’ side are the lowest goalscorers in the top half of the Premier League at the moment with just 25 goals scored as midfielder Tomas Soucek leads the way for the club with five strikes.

Haller struggled in his season and a half in London, but is already flourishing at Ajax with a goal and three assists in his first three games.

En-Nesyri is actually quite a similar player to Haller, with his height and ability to win headers a huge weapon for him.

It’s interesting that West Ham would be going for a similar player given the way Haller’s move failed, and especially considering En-Nesyri is even less involved in any sort of passing play.

Youssef En-Nesyri statistics in 2020/21

The Moroccan averages just 14.7 passes P90 with 66% accuracy and 0.5 dribbles P90, but he has proven to be a menace in the box averaging 2.8 shots and 6.2 touches in the opposition box P90.

En-Nesyri is strong with both feet in and around the box and has shown to be able to finish in different scenarios and distances from goal.

He would add another dimension to West Ham’s attack and complement the pace and trickery of the likes of Said Benrahma, Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen alongside him.

The Hammers have around two weeks to get a potential deal over the line and will be hoping to do so and have him involved as soon as possible as they chase a spot in Europe for next season.