West Ham United director of football Tim Steidten held a ‘positive’ meeting with Paris Saint-Germain over striker Hugo Ekitike, as well as speaking to the player’s agents.
That’s according to Foot Mercato, who say the Hammers are continuing to push for the striker as a replacement for Gianluca Scamacca.
The Italian departed West Ham earlier this month, joining Atalanta in a €25m deal to bring an end to a miserable, solitary year at the London Stadium.
While he was unable to make much of an impact for the club his departure has left a hole in their forward line, with Michail Antonio and Danny Ings the senior forward options available to David Moyes at this moment in time.
It’s a situation they’re determined to rectify and Ekitike, who has been told he can leave PSG this summer as he is not a part of their plans, is the man they’ve been targeting.
According to FM’s information, Steidten recently held a new ‘positive’ meeting with his PSG counterpart Luis Campos to discuss the striker and a possible transfer. That discussion is described as being ‘frank and very constructive’.
The Hammers have made it clear they have the capacity to ‘align themselves’ with Ekitike’s salary demands and also with the transfer sum PSG would ask for. In other words, they can afford the player on both fronts.
They’ve also made this clear to the player and his representatives, holding talks with them about a switch to the London Stadium also. Ekitike’s agents were ‘very receptive’ to what West Ham had to say, according to FM.
Whether that leads to him ending up at the club before the end of the window is another matter, but the Hammers are keen and presenting their case on all fronts it seems.
