While a striker remains at the top of West Ham United’s wish list this summer, particularly after Marko Arnautovic’s move to China, the Hammers are looking to add elsewhere too.
The club have already signed Pablo Fornals and it’s possible they could get Maxi Gomez from La Liga as well, but they may be looking in the Bundesliga for their next signing.
According to Chilean news site Ahora Noticias, the Hammers are one of several clubs interested in Charles Aranguiz.
The midfielder has expressed his desire to move on from Bayer Leverkusen and reportedly has several clubs interested in his services. West Ham are named as one of them, as well as Bayern Munich, Napoli, AC Milan, Roma and Inter Milan.
They don’t cite what kind of fee Leverkusen would demand for the 30-year-old, although given he’s in the final year of his deal it’s unlikely to be a major one.
There’s also no suggestion that any of the clubs have made a move yet, just that the interest is there. The Hammers, though, are likely to be very keen given Manuel Pellegrini tried to sign him in the past.
In fact, the Hammers boss discussed his failed attempt to bring his compatriot to the London Stadium with El Mercurio not long ago.
“I will not talk about conversations, but I can tell you that I would have loved to have many Chilean players who have been figures worldwide,” he said.
“In the past, I took several: Salas, Rojas, Matías Fernández, Iturra, Moras; I have taken 7 or 8 Chilean players. I tried to take Aranguiz to West Ham, but he did not want to.”
That suggests that the Chilean midfielder may not be keen on the move this summer either. West Ham certainly improved under Pellegrini last season, but there’s no significant difference to what was on offer last summer.
Plus, with bigger clubs also in the mix, and able to offer European football as well, Pellegrini’s chances of pulling this move off seem few.
