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West Ham fear new striker snub as it emerges £26m ace would prefer Spain move - report
By Tom Blackburn
West Ham fear they could miss out on Carlos Bacca after it emerged that the Colombian would favour a move to Atletico Madrid, according to a report.
Football Insider reported on Saturday that West Ham have agreed a £25.6million fee for AC Milan forward Carlos Bacca.
But Italian newspaper La Stampa claim Atletico manager Diego Simone will match the offer and, crucially, Bacca is keen on a move back to Spain.
Bacca started out in his home country of Colombia, where among loan spells he scored 111 goals in six seasons.
He impressed after a move to Club Brugge before transferring to Spanish giants Sevilla, where he won two Europa League titles in two seasons.
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It is said those fond memories would be a major draw for Bacca if Atletico’s reported bid materialises.
West Ham have already had a busy transfer window and will hope the Colombian opts to move to east London and their new home at the Olympic Stadium.
Slaven Bilic acted swiftly this summer to sign Sofiane Feghouli, Toni Martinez, Havard Nordtveit and Domingos Quina, while a loan deal for Gokhan Tore is all but done.
Bacca could become the West Ham manager’s sixth signing of the summer window.
Bacca joined Milan from Sevilla 12 months ago for a fee of around £22million after his release clause was activated and is contracted to the Italian giants until 2019.
In other West Ham news, they have lined up a new striker in case the Bacca deal collapses.