West Ham United have been warned to ‘dig deep’ if they want to stop rivals Tottenham Hotspur beating them to Maxi Gomez.
West Ham are in limbo over the future of star striker Marko Arnautovic at the moment.
Meanwhile Spurs have lost key strikers Harry Kane until March through injury and Son Heung-min to the Asia Cup until February.
Arnie off? Kane out. Solutions sought
As a result West Ham delegates reportedly travelled to Spain to launch a bid for Celto Vigo striker Maxi Gomez last week.
Wanted by West Ham AND Spurs
Radio Vigo, part of Cadena Ser confirmed an entourage from the Hammers are in Vigo to discuss a deal for a player Manuel Pellegrini wanted to sign in the summer.
The Uruguayan striker reportedly has a release clause of £45m and has scored 26 La Liga goals in 50 starts.
But West Ham have been warned by South American football expert Tim Vickery that they must dig deep if they are to beat Spurs in the race for the 22-year-old’s signature.
“There is other interest as well from elsewhere (other than West Ham),” Vickery told Sky Sports.
Expert warns West Ham owners they must ‘dig very deep’
“You could imagine Tottenham as a destination for him because he’s a coming star.
“The difficulty that Tottenham would have is signing that Harry Kane backup that’s maybe not going to play every game. Well Maxi Gomez is perhaps at the stage of his career where that wouldn’t be such a big impediment.
“He is someone who is a big up-and-coming name (and) having to backup Harry Kane wouldn’t be an impediment to that deal.
“So there is competition out there and West Ham, I think if they want to get him now – for these two reasons firstly the potential competition and secondly the fact that Celta Vigo don’t want to sell now (but the summer instead) – I think West Ham will have to dig very deep into their pockets.”