West Ham have tabled a “formal offer” for Girona striker Artem Dovbyk, according to AS (via Sport Witness)
The Hammers are believed to be prepared to pay €35m (£30m) for the Ukrainian international, €10m (£8.5m) more than Atletico Madrid who are also keen on securing the player’s signature.
However, Dovbyk is reportedly not interested in leaving Spain. The forward is settled with his family in the country and he is looking forward to playing in the Champions League next season.
With West Ham having missed out on Europe entirely, after finishing 9th in the table last season, there is very little chance that they can persuade him into making the switch to the London Stadium.
Why is Dovbyk in such high demand?
After joining Girona from Dnipro-1 last summer, the 27-year-old made a big impact, finishing the season as La Liga’s top scorer, with 23 goals, having hit the back of the net 25 times in all competitions.
Dovbyk is perfectly suited for the Premier League, leading to rumours that Chelsea and Arsenal were also keeping tabs on his progress.
The Ukrainian can play as a target man but he has sufficient pace to run into channels, causing opposition defences no end of problems.
Are West Ham pursuing any other strikers?
Julen Lopetegui’s side have been linked with countless forwards over the last couple of months. Earlier this week, the Irons were credited with an interest in Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran.
Before that, the London club had also considered moves for the likes of Brentford’s Ivan Toney, Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesryi, Lille’s Jonathan David, Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Atletico Madrid’s Samu Omorodion, Toulouse’s Thijs Dallinga, Cercle Brugge’s Kevin Denkey and Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface.
One thing is certain, though. Dovbyk is unlikely to be the no.9 that West Ham end up signing, based on this latest report.
