Is there a chance that Championship Player of the Year and the Championship Golden Boot winner will both be plying their trade at West Ham United next season?
And, no, we are not talking about things in relation to a possible West Ham relegation.
Reports this week claimed that the Hammers are in the race to sign Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney, per talkSPORT. Hammers News have already confirmed that Swansea City striker Zan Vipotnik has admirers at the London Stadium.
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Hayden Hackney and Zan Vipotnik are ones to watch… 👀
Our opening paragraph was not, therefore, a worst-case scenario prediction regarding the very real threat of relegation at the London Stadium.
More a suggestion that, if West Ham United survive at Tottenham Hotspur’s expense, the EFL market may finally be getting the attention it deserves; offering some of the best talent in the league below the chance to make the step up.
West Ham United linked with Hayden Hackney and Zan Vipotnik
A protege of Michael Carrick’s at the Riverside, Hackney was named the Championship Player of the Year last month. An award West Ham’s own Crysencio Summerville claimed at Leeds in 2023.
While Vipotnik is technically not the Golden Boot winner just yet, Coventry’s Haji Wright would have to find the net seven times on the final day to leapfrog the stylish Slovenian at the top of the charts.
Swansea’s number nine is six clear, with 23 goals from 34 starts.
Max Hahn, the Hammers’ Head of Technical Recruitment & Analysis, recommended Vipotnik during the January transfer window. Vipotnik has extended his Swansea contract since then. But, with a tenth-place finish the height of their ambitions going into the 46th and final weekend, the feeling is that Vipotnik’s extension was made in an attempt to protect his value rather than to secure his services beyond the summer.
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There is still one velvet-suit wearing obstacle standing in the way of an exciting double deal for the Championship’s stand-out central midfielder and its most prolific centre-forward.
David Sullivan has reservations about signing Football League-based talents. The aforementioned Hahn, in particular, may be hoping Sullivan’s stance has softened somewhat on the back of Summerville’s superb second season in East London.
A dynamic, all-action midfield general like Hackney would be very well-received. Like Mateus Fernandes, Middlesbrough’s homegrown number seven is a jack-of-all-trades with the potential to become a master of many.
There is likely to be space for another striking signing, too. Callum Wilson acknowledged his frustration regarding a lack of regular starts following last week’s stoppage time winner against Everton.
Wilson is out of contract in July. Pablo Felipe has not yet found the net in 13 matches. Niclas Fullkrug has no future under Nuno, while Callum Marshall has not ruled out staying in Germany beyond his loan spell with VFL Bochum.
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