Frank Lampard has responded after being asked about West Ham’s interest in his Coventry City star Haji Wright following astonishing claims of £120m talks.
West Ham are desperate to sign at least one striker in the January transfer window as they battle to avoid swapping places with Coventry City in the Premier League.
Hammers Academy graduate Frank Lampard has Coventry storming away to automatic promotion at the top of the Championship.
West Ham and Coventry are on very different trajectories right now.
Nuno Espirito Santo has the January window to try and bring in players to help turn West Ham around and avoid the dreaded drop.
For Lampard it is about maintaining Coventry’s lead, which stands at five points over second-placed Middlesbrough and a whopping 12 points in securing an automatic spot.
West Ham battling to avoid swapping places with Coventry
Key to that will be keeping his hugely impressive, free-scoring side from being broken up in January amid vultures like West Ham circling.
West Ham have a number of Championship strikers in their sights ahead of the January window including Coventry star Haji Wright.
This is shocking! 😰 Relegation is going to be dire for West Ham…
What would YOU do to avoid this mess?
The US international is on course for the best season of his career having scored nine goals in 19 games so far.
Wright stands at 6ft 3in and is the kind of big, powerful presence Nuno likes up top.
The Hammers have been heavily linked with Wright in recent weeks.
Now Lampard has reacted to a West Ham move for Coventry star Wright after £120m talks.
The former West Ham Academy graduate, who has been a hate figure for many Hammers fans down the years, was asked directly about Wright’s future amid interest from his old club.
With West Ham continuing their search for attacking reinforcements, Lampard’s reaction offers valuable insight into how realistic a deal for the powerful forward might actually be.
It comes after a top transfer source told Claret and Hugh that West Ham were given the price Coventry wanted for Wright before being informed: “There will be no negotiations.”
Lampard reacts to West Ham move for Wright after £120m talks
That price, though, was nothing short of absurd, as Coventry quoted West Ham £120m up front, an additional £80m if Coventry don’t get promoted, plus a £40m bonus if West Ham stay in the Premier League.
That’s an eye-watering total of £240m — a figure so obscene it is effectively Coventry’s way of telling the Hammers that Wright is not for sale.
West Ham’s record when it comes to BIG MONEY signings isn’t great 💸
Who will be the player to break the curse?
Lampard stopped short of offering any guarantees.
But in his latest press conference, Lampard did state he wants to keep Wright so Coventry can achieve their promotion aims.
“I’m very keen to keep hold of them (Wright and another reported West Ham target Ellis Simms) because they’re two very, very big players for us, amongst others,” Lampard said, as reported by Coventry Live.
“And if we want to do what we want to do this season, we have to keep our best players and look at how can we add to make the squad even more competitive and even stronger.”
Lampard admitted he can’t predict whether Haji ends up leaving amid the interest from West Ham.
He also conceded the players and agents involved may have their own plan and agenda.
Although Lampard insists there has been no sign of Wright being affected by West Ham’s reported interest as yet.
Lampard ‘can’t predict future’ of West Ham target Wright
“But there’s no window open at the minute, so it’s great,” Lampard added.
“You know, other than people talking about it, I don’t have to consider it too much other than what we may do. But in terms of the players that are here, I’ve sensed nothing.
“They train great, they want to be here and they want to win every game that they possibly can. And that’s a good feeling. Other than that, I can’t predict any futures.”
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
