West Ham United have been told they may need as much as €80m if they want to sign Lucas Ocampos from Sevilla this summer.
The Hammers were named as suitors for the Argentine, alongside Wolverhampton Wanderers’, earlier this week, with reports in Italy and England stating that they were keen.
Ocampos has been enjoying another impressive campaign for the Spanish side, with eight goals and four assists in 35 games in all competitions and a starring role under Julen Lopetegui.
His performances have not gone unnoticed, and earlier this week, it was stated that West Ham and Wolves were in the picture for him.
West Ham, of course, know the player well, having come up against him in the Europa League when they faced Sevilla recently.
They’ve both apparently made enquiries to find out about the forward’s situation, but as far as Estadio Deportivo are concerned, they won’t like what they find.
According to them, Ocampos has two years left on his current deal with Sevilla, and that includes a termination clause of €70m, but he is ‘about to close’ an extension to that, which will see him extend for another year and increase the clause to €80m.
That would make any exit from Sevilla ‘unfeasible’ this summer unless the Spanish side didn’t manage to achieve their aims, namely qualifying for the Champions League.
That could require them to make more than one big sale to balance the books, but at the moment, that seems unlikely.
Even if they did have to sell, they’d be loathed to losing Ocampos, who is ‘essential’ for Lopetegui because of the versatility he offers.
He, and Sevilla, consider Ocampos as ‘one of the fixed players’ in the squad, and so they wouldn’t entertain the idea of a sale, not unless that €80m figure was being activated.
It’s hard to see West Ham or Wolves paying a figure anywhere near that amount, so both may be best served looking elsewhere for their attacking additions this summer.
