West Ham to miss out on £20m and £34m strikers with both expected at Serie A giants

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With moves to Serie A giants Inter Milan and Napoli heating up, two more strikers will soon be scrubbed off West Ham United’s summer wishlist.

A wishlist with now featuring more crosses than a Family Fortunes omnibus. That infamous ‘uh-uh’ buzzer has been the soundtrack to West Ham United’s summer so far.

Jonathan David rebuffed West Ham’s advances when leaving Lille on a free transfer. Liam Delap signed for Chelsea. Yuri Alberto plans to stay in Brazil. Turkish champions Galatasaray have ruled out selling Baris Alper Yilmaz.

Emanuel Emegha is expected to join Delap at Chelsea too, while West Ham failed with another approach for Jhon Duran. The third window in a row in which Al-Nassr’s £65 million former Aston Villa supersub has slipped through the Hammers’ fingers.

Soon enough, both Lorenzo Lucca and Ange-Yoan Bonny will write their own names onto an ever-lengthening list of centre-forwards moving out of Graham Potter’s reach.

West Ham United miss out to Inter Milan for Ange-Yoan Bonny

After West Ham made a late attempt to hi-jack Napoli’s move for Yunus Musah, the 2023 Europa Conference League champions tried in vain to snatch another player from under the noses of an Italian giant.

Parma frontman Ange-Yoan Bonny has his heart set on Inter Milan, however. A powerhouse number nine who has been likened to a young Romelu Lukaku or Didier Drogba, Bonny is now on the verge of sealing a belated £20 million switch to a Nerazzuri side reeling from losing out on both the Scudetto and the Champions League in heartbreaking circumstances.

Speaking of Napoli, the team who seized the Serie A title from Simone Inzaghi’s grasp, Sky Italia report that towering Udinese targetman Lorenzo Lucca could join the champions in a deal worth around £34 million.

Lorenzo Lucca more likely to join Napoli than Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez

Lucca is one of Napoli’s two first-choice centre-forward targets. The other, of course, being Liverpool’s madcap Darwin Nunez.

Sky add that, while Napoli and the Reds remain poles apart in their valuation of the much-maligned Uruguayan, negotiations with Udinese for Lucca remain ‘hot’.

The 6ft 7in Lorenzo Lucca was linked with West Ham all the way back in March. One of the earliest names to appear in the pre-summer gossip columns. However, Napoli moved into pole position months ago and the green light now seems closer than ever.

So, where do West Ham go from here? By the time Graham Potter has money to spend, the Hammers may resemble Cillian Murphy’s Jim in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later. Slumping through vacant streets, and sifting through bare supermarket shelves, wondering just where all the centre-forwards have gone.

This week, it was reported that St Etienne star Lucas Stassin has agreed terms with RC Lens.

Brondby sensation Matthias Kvistgaarden remains available, however. The 23-year-old Dane is currently one of the few West Ham-linked strikers who has not already made a move, or does not appear to have a transfer lined up.