It appears that West Ham United have expressed an interest in signing either of two of Real Madrid’s outcast attackers in Luka Jovic and Mariano Diaz.
We exclusively revealed yesterday that West Ham have made an enquiry to Zinedine Zidane’s side to recruit Jovic in an initial loan deal, which would include a permanent option, as they search for a replacement following the sale of Sebastien Haller.
The MailOnline add that the Hammers are also considering a move for Mariano, with the Spanish-Dominican said to favour a move to London as he continues to see little action for Los Blancos.
As per BBC Sport, the east London outfit netted £20.25m from the sale of Haller to Ajax, just 18 months after they signed the Frenchman from Eintracht Frankfurt in a £45m deal.
To make it clear, it appears that both Jovic and Mariano are striker options for the Hammers, but there’s absolutely no indication that they’d sign both – that wouldn’t make sense for any of the parties involved.
Mariano has started three of his seven appearances for the La Liga champions so far this season, featuring for over 60 minutes on just two of these occasions.
Considering that superstar Karim Benzema remains the firm centre-forward option in a system that deploys one striker, the decision to re-sign Mariano from Lyon in the summer of 2018 becomes a more foolish one everyday.
Jovic has made just five appearances for Los Blancos this season, starting in three, he’s continued to look unconvincing and hasn’t helped his case with some off-the-pitch incidents, but the 23-year-old has been in fine form for the Serbian national team since international football resumed.
Jovic, a big-money signing in the summer of 2019, may be a flop but it’s fair to say that he’s still shown more at first-team level than Mariano.
However, the Hammers may want to carefully consider a move for Jovic, considering that his ex-teammate Haller also made his name at Frankfurt and look how that move turned out.