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Report: West Ham offer £67,000-a-week attacker deal, deal worth £40m in fee and wages
By London correspondent Tony Hughes
West Ham have offered Carlos Bacca a contract worth £67,000-a-week, according to a report.
But the Hammers face competition to push through the deal amid growing interest from Arsenal in the AC Milan striker.
Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport claim the Gunners have joined the race to sign Bacca as Arsene Wenger adjusts his search for a new centre-forward.
Bacca, 29, is likely to leave Milan as Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta have reported that the Italian giants have lined up £5million-rated Italian Lasagna, who scored five times in 36 Serie A appearances last season.
Football Insider reported on Monday that West Ham would meet with Bacca’s representatives this week to discuss personal terms over a club-record move.
The Hammers are in advanced talks to sign the striker for £26million in a deal that would annihilate their club transfer record.
Gazzetta report they have offered the player a four-year deal worth £14million in total, meaning the total package is £40million.
Should terms be agreed, Bacca will become Slaven Bilic’s sixth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Gokhan Tore, Sofiane Feghouli, Toni Martinez, Havard Nordtveit and Domingos Quina.
The Colombia international would also become the most expensive purchase in the east London club’s history, exceeding the £15million spent on the signing of Andy Carroll from Liverpool in 2013.
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.
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.
The 33-time capped international starred for the Italian giants last season where he scored 20 goals in 43 appearances in all competitions.
Arsenal have also been linked with the likes of Alexandre Lacazette and Gonzalo Higuain after being snubbed by Leicester sensation Jamie Vardy.
In other West Ham transfer news, Dimitri Payet has sent the fans a message about his future.