West Ham are one of the five Premier League clubs showing keen interest in signing AS Roma striker Tammy Abraham this summer.
The Hammers are looking to add more quality in the forward department despite signing Brazilian youngster Luis Guilherme on a big-money deal.
Under David Moyes, West Ham have ignored bolstering the forward department for years. They did sign Gianluca Scamacca from Sassuolo on a big-money deal, but he turned out to be a major flop.
With Michail Antonio approaching the fag end of his career, the situation has forced the Hammers to buy a replacement. Guilherme is an exciting talent but he could be seen as a player for the future.
West Ham need someone with Premier League experience, who can score many goals, and who is available at a reasonable price—Abraham ticks all the boxes.
Experience
A product of Chelsea’s youth academy, Abraham has successfully spent loan spells at Bristol City, Swansea City and Aston Villa in his career.
He has made 82 appearances for the Blues, scoring 30 goals. He has proved his quality in Italy as well and has 11 caps for the England national team. He is approaching the prime years of his career, and West Ham can afford to take a calculative gamble on him.
Goals are guaranteed
Abraham may not be someone like Roberto Firmino or Sergio Aguero, who brings a lot more to the game, but he has always been a fantastic goal scorer, something the Hammers lacked all these years. He scored 26 goals in a season in the Championship twice, for Bristol City and Aston Villa, and in 2019-20, managed 18 goals in a season for Chelsea.
In his first season at Roma, he scored 27 goals in 53 games under Jose Mourinho. Clearly, he is capable of scoring 20 goals in a season, and Lopetegui will be more than happy if he can replicate that at the London Stadium.
Transfer fee and situation
According to Fabrizio Romano, West Ham presented an offer of around £30 million for Samu Omorodion, which was rejected. Surely, they can afford a fee of around £20 million for Abraham, and they can negotiate properly to make it a structured deal as well.
According to a report from Corriere dello Sport, Abraham is almost certain to leave Roma, and the Serie A giants are waiting for a formal bid from the Hammers.
Roma have set an asking price of around €30 million [£25.3m], but the Giallorossi could reduce that price to €22m [£18.6]. He has completely recovered from his injuries, and that price, signing him, is a no-brainer.
Everton, Leicester City, Tottenham and Aston Villa are also vying for his signature, but West Ham must beat their rivals and move quickly and seal the next signing.
