West Ham United‘s hunt for a new striker continues as they are keen on adding a target man to replace Andy Carroll, who will leave the club at the end of the month.
The Hammers are keen on signing West Bromwich Albion’s Salomon Rondon, who will be allowed to leave the Baggies ahead of the 2019-20 season.
Reports, however, have claimed that the Championship side have rejected an offer for the Venezuelan striker.
The Daily Star are reporting that the Hammers made a bid of £10 million for the striker as well as included two players in the deal, Sam Byram and Jordan Hugill, which West Brom rejected.
The Baggies want £16.5 million for the striker who they signed from Zenit for £12 million in 2015.
Following their relegation to the Championship, West Brom loaned out the striker to Newcastle United, where he was the second-highest goalscorer for the club with 12 goals.
Here are three reasons why the Hammers should return with a better bid for Rondon:
Great value for money, even after the increased bid
The Premier League transfer market is highly inflated, thanks to the huge television revenue that the clubs get, which means that clubs have a lot more money to spend in every transfer window.
Rondon, at £16.5 million, would be a steal for the Hammers as he has Premier League experience and has shown that he is a potent goalscorer if supported well.
The Hammers could get rid of a few players in the squad to sign the striker, who might prove to be very valuable for the London club.
Rondon is a proven goalscorer
As mentioned above, Rondon has a great deal of experience in the Premier League, having played 140 games in England’s top division, and has scored 35 goals in total for West Brom and Newcastle United.
Marko Arnautović was the Hammers’ top goalscorer in the league with 10 goals, last season which isn’t a good number for a side aiming to compete for the European places.
Lack of strikers and other prospective targets
West Ham United will start the Premier League season with probably just one striker if they do not sign a striker before the start of the season. Andy Carroll will leave, while Lucas Perez has signed for Alaves, which leaves manager Manuel Pellegrini with just two first-team strikers – Arnautović and Javier Hernandez.
The Hammers could also lose Hernandez before the start of the season as he hinted at a departure from the club just this past week, while rumours regarding an Arnautović exit continue.
This means that the Hammers need to sign at least one striker, which is all the more reason to sign Rondon, who could be a solid signing.
