Reports:West Ham has signed  Mali striker a day ahead of Man United DONE DEAL 

Reports:West Ham has signed  Mali striker a day ahead of Man United DONE DEAL

West Ham United have been beaten to the signing of exciting Mali striker El Bilal Toure and it is brilliant news for Man United over Rasmus Hojlund.

Both West Ham and Manchester United have been heavily linked with Danish sensation Rasmus Hojlund.

According to a report from 90Min, Hammers boss David Moyes was keen to sign the 20-year-old Atalanta forward this summer.

But some of Europe’s elite clubs are in for the ‘new Haaland’ and Man United boss Erik ten Hag has made him his prime target in the summer transfer window.

Hammers and Red Devils on hunt for a new striker
West Ham are also on the hunt for a new striker with the futures of Gianluca Scamacca and Michail Antonio both uncertain.

And according to reports last month, West Ham were one of the clubs in the running to sign Almeria hotshot El Bilal Toure.

The powerful, pacy striker scored seven goals and laid on two assists in just 15 La Liga starts for Almeria last season.

Now there has been a development which is a double blow to West Ham but a massive boost to Manchester United.

West Ham beaten to exciting Mali striker El Bilal Toure and it’s brilliant news for Man United over Rasmus Hojlund
Because West Ham have been beaten to exciting Mali striker Toure and it’s brilliant news for Man United over Hojlund.

L’Équipe report that Serie A side Atalanta are poised to beat off interest from the Premier League to the 21-year-old attacker.

“Atalanta are now ahead of the competition and are willing to offer a little more than €20m (£17m) to sign the player who is currently contracted to Almeria until June 2028,” the reports state.

Atalanta do not splash big money in the transfer market. And bringing in a striker for that kind of money suggests only one thing.

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Development a double blow to Moyes but clear indication Ten Hag will get Hojlund
It is a clear sign that they are preparing to sell Hojlund with Man United ready to push home a move for the prodigious talent according to the likes of Sky Sports.

It means West Ham will be missing out on Toure and have no chance of getting Hojund either – although those links always looked ambitious in the extreme.

The development means West Ham must continue to look elsewhere for a new forward. Especially as they look set to miss out on Viktor Gyokeres to Sporting and attacker Harvey Barnes to Newcastle.

Should Toure seal his move to Atalanta – as is being reported – then it is a clear indication Atalanta are letting Hojund go.

Major relief as confusion over ‘imminent’ West Ham signing of midfielder Denis Zakaria is cleared up by board confidant
We highlighted that, compared to Rice, Zakaria is a distinctly average player who has flopped at his last two clubs and could not get into a Chelsea team who finished 12th.

Moyes have been linked with a plethora of midfielders in the last two months. And Zakaria is comfortably the worst of the lot.

He completely failed to make any impact at Juventus, playing just 15 games. Zakaria was then loaned out to Chelsea last season for a £1.5m fee with an option to buy.

But he fared even worse at Chelsea, making 11 appearances – mostly as sub – and the Blues decided not to activate their option to purchase the Swiss defensive midfielder.

His average match rating in his career so far is just 6.5/10 – hardly a ringing endorsement of the midfielder’s abilities.

Relief over move talk that has concerned many Hammers fans
Zakaria does boast respectable passing statistics but everything else – including his all-important defensive numbers – are distinctly average.

At best he would have it all to prove at West Ham. So it is understandable some fans have shared the concerns of Hammers News over reports from the likes of Tuttosport that the 26-year-old will be our first signing of the window.

Conflicting reports have also surfaced claiming it is something of a red herring and the move is being pushed by Zakaria’s agents and Juventus as they are desperate to offload him and raise funds.

But there’s major relief as confusion over ‘imminent’ West Ham deal for midfielder Zakaria is cleared up by a board confidant.

‘Club insiders have denied the reports’
Sean Whetstone claims West Ham insiders have told him the club are NOT meeting Juve about signing Zakaria.

And he states that while there is some loose interest in the player after a recommendation from new technical director Tim Steidten, the Hammers will not entertain anything other than a loan with an option to buy.

“West Ham representatives are not set to meet with Juventus today to continue negotiations for central defensive midfielder,” Whetstone states on 6foot2.

“Club insiders have denied the Tuttosport report which claimed the transfer fee for the Swiss international was not far away…

“The Hammers did confirm some interest but are concerned over the players injury record so would not entertain a straight permanent transfer.”

MORE WEST HAM NEWS

Player wants to leave West Ham ‘at all costs’ – Interested club ‘won’t wait long’, have alternative lined up

At this point, we’re as bored of writing articles about the future of Nikola Vlasic at West Ham United as you are of reading them, but it’s an ongoing story in Italy, and it needs to be covered.

That’s because the Croatian player still hopes to be able to leave the Hammers on a permanent basis this summer after failing to convince David Moyes in London, and Torino are keen.

They loaned the player last season with great success, and Tuttosport bring the latest on the still developing situation despite Vlasic having returned to West Ham.

The newspaper explain Ivan Juric, the manager in Turin, is ‘looking forward’ to having the midfielder under his wing next season, but he needs the club to get a deal over the line first.

West Ham are still refusing to budge from the €13m or so (the amount varies depending on the source) option to buy that was pre-agreed last summer, while Torino are trying to use Vlasic’s desire to leave London to their advantage.

It’s stated the Croatia international wants to head back to the Serie A side ‘at all costs’, but there’s a limit to their patience.
Tuttosport report that Torino ‘won’t wait long’, especially since they have set up a separate negotiation to try and sign Dennis Praet from relegated Leicester, who was the man Juric loved before Vlasic following his loan spell from the Foxes during the 2021-22 season.