West Ham rue transfer error that will cost €80m

Cameron Smith

• 26 Mar 2024 17:35 GMT
• 3 min read

West Ham United desperately need to sign a quality centre forward this summer.

David Moyes’ side have purchased Gianluca Scamacca, Danny Ings and Sebastien Haller over the past few years, but they have all failed to make the desired impact in east London, and Ings is the only one still at the club.

Michail Antonio and Ings remain the only out-and-out senior strikers at the club, while Jarrod Bowen has frequently been deployed through the middle this campaign instead of as a right winger.

It’s an issue that West Ham are trying to fix - Ivan Toney has recently been linked with a move to the London Stadium for example - but the best solution was available for a bargain price last summer and he is now being chased by the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea, meaning the Hammers stand little chance of securing his services.

READ MORE: Toney picking West Ham over Spurs should be an EASY decision

West Ham’s €80m transfer error

Last year, West Ham were chasing Coventry City forward Viktor Gyokeres for several weeks during the summer transfer window, and it was believed that the Championship side were waiting for Moyes’ side to submit an offer for the Sweden international.

That offer never came, however, and he joined Sporting CP instead for a mere €20 million.

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Fast forward a few months and his price tag now stands at a reported €100m after an electric first campaign in Portugal. As a result, West Ham will have to pay an additional €80m if they want to sign Gyokeres in 2024.

The 25-year-old has bagged 36 goals and provided 14 assists in 39 games for Sporting this campaign and has been named as Arsenal’s priority transfer target ahead of the upcoming window, as exclusively reported by FootballTransfers.

Gyokeres was already a huge talent in the Championship and it was clear that he was ready for a step up. Furthermore, given West Ham’s recent transfer success stories from the second tier of English football - Bowen and Antonio both spring to mind - it was a huge surprise they didn’t sign Gyokeres last year, a player who perfectly suits Moyes’ style of play.

He is a potent threat on the counter-attack, able to link play with attacking midfielders, run the channels and, most importantly, score goals.

Gyokeres is the ideal Moyes striker, but West Ham will likely never sign him now due to their failure to land him in 2023.