As Kyle Walker-Peters and El Hadji Malick Diouf arrive to reinforce the full-back positions, West Ham United’s focus is now turning to centre-forwards and central midfielders.
Hammers News can confirm that West Ham are offering Callum Wilson a one-year deal with the option of a 12-month extension, provided he can stay clear of the injuries which limited the England international to a pair of Premier League starts during his final season at Newcastle.
Wilson called West Ham a club you’d want ‘to play for’ back in 2022.
Three years on, and while the now 33-year-old poacher appears a fading force, the opportunity to do just that and ‘play for’ the Hammers appears to have arrived.
Whether talks ever reach such an advanced stage over Raphael Onyedika, though, remains to be seen.
Hammers News were informed by football correspondent Graeme Bailey a month ago that head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay had installed Onyedika as the number one target for the central midfield position.
The £20 million-rated Club Brugge ace prefers West Ham over AC Milan, according to his representatives, while Belgian expert Sacha Tavolieri put Graham Potter’s side in ‘pole position’ alongside David Moyes’ Everton.
Over the last fortnight, however, things have gone a little quiet.
Raphael Onyedika stance explained as West Ham United’s midfielder wait goes on
Now, the noises coming out of the CAA Stellar Agency suggest that, if no transfer is forthcoming this summer, Onyedika is unlikely to lose much sleep.
“He is fully focused on Club Bruges for now,” a source speaking on behalf of Onyedika’s representatives tells Africa Foot. “If there is to be a transfer, it will be up to the clubs to decide.
“Raphael is in no rush to leave. He is happy in Bruges and will not demand a move. He is an exemplary professional, always striving for improvement. He is humble enough to know that the right time will come, and he will welcome it.”
The lack of recent movement can be explained largely through the £19 million arrival of El Hadji Malick Diouf from Slavia Prague.
West Ham quickly invested a large portion of that Mohammed Kudus windfall bringing Diouf to the London Stadium. Now, they appear to be intent on adding top-flight experience to a dressing room without Vladimir Coufal, Lukasz Fabianski, Michail Antonio, Danny Ings and Aaron Cresswell.
Between them, Kyle Walker-Peters and Callum Wilson have made 387 Premier League appearances.
Onyedika on backburner as West Ham close in on Callum Wilson
Club Brugge coach Nicky Hayen is certainly not surprised to hear Onyedika’s name whisper on the wind.
“There is a lot of interest in our players, and of course I know what’s going on,” Hayen, who coached Haverfordwest County in Wales just two years before winning the Belgian league title with Club Brugge, told DAZN earlier this month.
“There is good communication with management. But, you know, everything can change in five minutes. [Until then] I count on everyone as long as they are under contract with Club Brugge.”
Wilson is likely to be West Ham’s third senior signing of the summer, meanwhile, as the wait for a top midfield addition goes on.
A source speaking on behalf of the board told Hammers News this week that Callum Wilson is ‘expected’ to join West Ham despite understandable reservations over his age and a worrisome injury record.
“The manager does not want a striker, which some feel is wrong,” the spokesman explained. “I feel we should sign two.
“We expect to sign Callum Wilson, but that might not be enough in my opinion as he has had injury issues in the past too.”
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