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Mon 24 July 2017 7:21, UK

By Harvey Byrne

West Ham are allowing young striker Ashley Fletcher to leave the club on loan this season with a number of sides such as Leeds asking to take him, according to a report.

The Sun have claimed on their website that the imminent signing of Javier Hernandez will mean the Hammers will allow the 21-year-old to leave temporarily in order to continue his development.

Each of Leeds, Middlesbrough, Reading and Wolves are named specifically in the report as clubs who have asked to take the youngster for the upcoming campaign.

Leeds especially have been linked with a move for the former England Under-20 international for a long time, but West Ham had so far proven reluctant to send him out.

However, with the signing of players such as Hernandez it would now seem as though the Hammers are willing to allow Fletcher, who scored one goal in 20 appearances in all competitions last season leave temporarily.

Football Insider verdict:

With Chris Wood, Marcos Antonsson, Souleymane Doukara and summer signing Caleb Ekuban all in Leeds’ striker ranks many may believe that they don’t need to another to that list. Additionally, many supporters may feel they would rather take on a player they could sign permanently in the future, rather than developing another club’s youngster, which would be the likely scenario of Fletcher given that West Ham have not indicated whether they would allow him to leave permanently. Fletcher himself has also never played in the Championship and he would certainly be a risky signing for Leeds with just five goals in 20 appearances in League One. However, with the firepower of Wood, goals aren’t as essential for the Whites as they may have been in the past.

In other Leeds transfer news, here is why the Whites should consider signing 32-year-old defender this summer.

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