West Ham have doubled their offer for ‘new Kylian Mbappe’ Hugo Ekitike claims new reports emerging from France.
Hammers fans have been growing frustrated at the lack of transfer activity from David Moyes in the January window so far.
Moyes has admitted he wants to finally bring a new striker to West Ham after two years of trying without success.
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Well it appears things could be about to liven up significantly with five days left of the window.
That’s after a new report from France claimed West Ham have launched a £20m bid to sign hugely exciting Stade Reims striker Ekitike, who has been dubbed the new Mbappe.
It has gone quite on that front since.
West Ham double offer for ‘new Kylian Mbappe’ Hugo Ekitike claims new report
But now Le10Sport and Get French Football News claim West Ham have returned with a £20m plus bid for the rapid 19-year-old.
Ekitike has been handed some reputation to live up to being compared to French World Cup winner Mbappe.
But he is making a good fist of it in his debut season. In 18 games the reported West Ham target has scored eight goals, laid on three assists and been man of the match on three occasions. That makes him the top scoring teenager across Europe this season.
According to Le10Sport and Get French Football News, West Ham fell short with a bid of £12.5m for Ekitike earlier this month.
The Hammers have now effectively DOUBLED their bid to more than £20m according to the reports.
“West Ham have now upped their bid to €25m, including bonuses,” Le10Sport and GFFN report.
“Reims, however, will likely see this as not enough to let the player go as they feel they’re capable of eventually receiving a bigger fee for the striker.
“Reims president Jean-Pierre Caillot confirmed earlier this month that he turned down a €35m offer from Newcastle, which included some tricky to reach bonuses. Chelsea, meanwhile, have also made enquiries for the player.”
Ekitike was included in GFFN’s 10 To Watch for 2022 as part of the GFFN 100 earlier this month.
If accurate, West Ham’s move for Ekitike is hugely exciting and he seems to tick all of the boxes in Moyes’s recruitment policy.
It would also tally with Rob Newman’s directive to identify top, young talent for West Ham in his role as head of recruitment.