West Ham in talks over transfer of 26-year-old striker – BeIN Sports correspondent
By Russell Edge
West Ham have opened talks over the transfer of Benfica striker Raul Jimenez, according to a reliable journalist.
Tancredi Palmeri, who works as a correspondent for BeIN Sports and also reports for CNN, has claimed on his personal Twitter account that the Hammers are in discussions for the 26-year-old:
The news comes after Portuguese news outlet Abola linked the club with the forward earlier this month, while Sky Bet have named Slaven Bilic’s side as favourites to secure his signing.
Benfica bought 50 per cent of the player’s rights from Atletico Madrid in the summer, before purchasing the remaining percentage in a £19.5million (€21.8million) deal which broke the record for both the most expensive transfer in Portuguese league history, as well as the most expensive Mexican player.
The 56-time-capped international has made 77 appearances for the Portuguese side, scoring 23 times and providing a further eight assists, while last season saw 11 goals in 32 outings across all competitions.
Football Insider verdict
Players from overseas always pose a risk, with the Premier League offering a whole new challenge to those who have no experience of English football. Benfica are likely to want to recoup the record breaking amount of money they spent on the 26-year-old, which means a bid in the region of £20million. That is an awful lot of money for a striker who managed to score just seven goals in the Portuguese League last season, while he fired home just once in the Champions League. His injury record should also pose a concern, with a knee injury, a groin injury and another unspecified muscle injury keeping him on the sidelines during the last campaign. West Ham already have two injury prone forwards in Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll, so they need someone who can start on the pitch, rather than the treatment room. They should invest that £20million into some proven talent, as they have already done with Marko Arnautovic.
In other West Ham transfer news, Jimenez’s international counterpart is set to become the club’s highest paid player.
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