London rivals ready to battle West Ham for £20m-valued forward – report
By Harvey Byrne
London rivals Crystal Palace are ready to battle West Ham for Manchester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho, according to a report.
The Mirror claimed on it’s website on Monday that Palace would now join the hunt for the 20-year-old striker, who is currently surplus to requirements at the cash-rich Manchester club.
It is detailed that the Hammers have led the chase for the striker valued at £20million.
However, Crystal Palace are now said to be” big fans” of the player, despite not having a manager alongside Premier League duo Everton and Swansea.
Iheanacho rose to fame quickly in the 2015-16 campaign, scoring 14 goals in 35 matches in all competitions, while also assisting five.
However, the appointment of Pep Guardiola alongside the signing of Gabriel Jesus limited him to just five league starts last season, returning four goals in the Premier League.
West Ham, meanwhile have been linked to a number of forwards already this summer with usual winger Michail Antonio topping the goal charts with nine last season and manager Slaven Bilic may view Iheanacho as a forward who can grow at the club.
Football Insider verdict:
Iheanacho is a very talented player and is one West Ham should certainly consider going all out for this summer. It is very rare that a striker who is a proven goal scorer in the Premier League becomes available, especially at just 20 years of age. Crystal Palace meanwhile already have the towering Christian Benteke in their ranks, who they spent heavily for last summer and therefore they may be more reluctant into getting into a bidding war for Iheanacho. The young Nigerian would be the perfect buy for West Ham this summer and would certainly bring some excitement back to the club’s fan base and the Hammers can’t afford to miss out on any targets this time around, as they did last summer.
In other West Ham transfer news, Sky Sports have detailed an obstacle in the Hammers’ pursuit of this international.
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