West Ham United boss Julen Lopetegui is not prepared to sanction a summer move for Samu Omorodion.
The Hammers have been priced out of a move for the striker this summer, with Atletico Madrid valuing the 20-year-old at £34million (€40million).
Although Lopetegui is a known admirer of Omorodion, with reports suggesting the Irons had already submitted one offer for his services [El Desmarque, 4 June], he is not believed to be willing to spend that amount of money on a relatively unproven player.
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West Ham need a new number nine this summer and that will be obvious to everyone who watched a minute of football at the London Stadium last season, but that doesn’t mean they should buy the first one who catches their eye.
Lopetegui’s first priorities in East London are expected to be reinforcing both in defence and out wide, then the former Real Madrid manager will likely look to solve the long-standing striker problem which plagued David Moyes.
Michail Antonio is still a force to be reckoned with, but he’s not getting any younger and Danny Ings’ future appears to lie elsewhere. That means Lopetegui has to move quickly to recruit a new number nine sooner rather than later.