West Ham ready £15m centre-forward swoop from fourth-placed club, has 12 goals in 16 – report

Fri 30 March 2018 7:35, UK

West Ham are readying a swoop for Kransodar and Russia centre-forward Fedor Smolov, according to a report.

The Mirror claims that the Hammers are confident of signing Smolov, 28, for £15million in the summer transfer window after Sky Sports reported in their live transfer blog on Thursday [11:14am] that the Russia international is keen on a switch to London.

It is understood that West Ham originally eyed up Smolov last summer and will re-ignite their interest in the coming months as David Moyes looks to revamp his options in attack.

Marseille are also said to be interested in the former Feyenoord and Dinamo Moscow striker, who is set to be one of Russia’s key players as they host the World Cup this year.

Smolov has been in deadly form for Krasnodar this season as they sit fourth in the table, scoring 12 goals in 16 league games.

Across all competitions since joining the club, Smolov has netted 61 times in 93 outings.

Football Insider verdict

West Ham really need to invest in the squad in the summer but their level of investment must surely hinge on whether or not they stay in the Premier League. Things are looking very precarious at the moment and the players need to ensure that the off-the-field tension does not impact their performances in the final weeks of the campaign. If they do stay up, Smolov would be a good signing considering his goal record in Russia, which is by no means an easy league. £15million would be a decent fee considering how much was spent on Jordan Hugill from Preston in January.