West Ham United are ready to shelve their interest in Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri and prioritise a move for Atletico Madrid youngster Samu Omorodion, according to Muchodeporte.
Sevilla are desperate to balance their books before the end of this month and have placed En-Nesyri on the transfer list.
The 27-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League amid interest from West Ham, Aston Villa, and Tottenham Hotspur.
West Ham were considered strong candidates to land his signature this summer, but it appears Julen Lopetegui is not too keen on a reunion with the Moroccan striker.
Lopetegui and En-Nesyri worked together at Sevilla, a collaboration that yielded a Europa League title. But the Spanish manager has other ideas on how to bolster his squad this summer.
We’re expected to land at least six players, with Lopetegui keen to mould the squad to his taste, and Omorodion seems to have captured the manager’s interest.
The 20-year-old spent the last season on loan at Alaves and helped the Spanish side to a mid-table finish with nine goals in 35 league games.
West Ham are prepared to pay an initial €29 million plus €10m in add-ons, but Atletico are holding out for a fee of around €40m for a striker that cost them just €6m last summer.
Omorodion doesn’t move the needle
The idea of passing up the chance to sign a striker with proven European experience like En-Nesyri in favour of a relatively inexperienced Omorodion is laughable.
The 6ft3 forward fits the profile of a striker Lopetegui needs for his tactical approach to be effective, but he’s nowhere near what we need to compete for European places.
Omorodion managed just nine goals last term, but he missed a jaw-dropping 19 big chances, boasting a less-than-impressive 13% shot-conversion rate.
Despite his towering frame, the Nigerian striker has won just 40% of his aerial duels, and we’d be silly to fork out a huge sum to lure him to East London.
At 20, he has plenty of room to improve, but for the price Atletico are demanding, we’re better off signing En-Nesyri or another striker with an impressive goalscoring record.
Stats from Sofascore.com