West Ham United are interested in Tottenham Hotspur striker Fernando Llorente, it has been reported.
The 34-year-old will be a free agent come July 1st, and the Hammers view him as a viable backup option in the transfer market, according to a report from the Daily Star.
The Spanish International, who played second fiddle to Harry Kane at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, managed 8 goals and 5 assists in 35 appearances in all competitions for the Lilywhites last season, and more often than not, delivered when the team needed him to.
Fernando Llorente at West Ham: A good option
Llorente is an old-school centre-forward who is most effective if used as a target-man. Considering he is 34 now, he isn’t as mobile as he was during his heydays at Athletic Bilbao.
However, the reason why he is still pretty good because he has refined his game in the final third as he has gotten older.
The Spaniard can act as a lone man upfront, and would be most effective against teams who press. He would offer the Hammers the option to play more direct.
Llorente stands in at 6ft 3in tall and is pretty adept at winning aerial duels. He averaged 3.1 aerial duels won per game across all competitions in the recently concluded campaign.
With the likes of Felipe Anderson, Michail Antonio and Marko Arnautovic in attack, Llorente’s ability to nick goals could come in handy. He is an extremely good poacher in the box.
Llorente has already featured for a couple of Premier League clubs in Swansea City and Tottenham Hotspur, so he is pretty used to the league as well.
Obviously, there are downsides to Llorente’s transfer as well, as he isn’t the player who can dribble past defences and take part in the build-up play.
Considering the Hammers now have the likes of Felipe Anderson, Pablo Fornals, and Manuel Lanzini though, Llorente could be the one to add the finishing touch to moves.
For a free transfer, he wouldn’t be a bad option at all, and considering how well he played for Spurs last season, he is perhaps one of the better veteran players in the Premier League right now.
West Ham have signed quite a few ageing players in the last few windows, but signing Llorente wouldn’t be a bad move by any stretch of the imagination.
Stat Courtesy: Whoscored, Transfermarkt
