As West Ham United plan ahead for the 2024/25 season, they face still competition from Premier League rivals for one of their targets.
With a market value of only €5m (transfermarkt), Vitoria de Guimaraes’ 24-year-old Portuguese ace, Jota Silva, has gone under the radar for many.
According to the outlet, however, the lightning-quick left-winger already has an impressive 11 goals and six assists in 30 games.
West Ham chasing Jota Silva
The Hammers need for a wide man that scores goals is obvious, but they’re unlikely to get it all their own way in the transfer market this summer, particularly if the club decide to part ways with David Moyes.
For any players that the East Londoners try to bring in, the first question they’ll surely want answering is regarding the direction of the club and the project in mind.
A number of managers have been linked with the post should Moyes decide to step away, and only once the new incumbent is known are players likely to commit.
Moyes has a contract until June 30 and unless the Scot announces his intentions before then, there’ll be no new manager announcements before the summer transfer window opens.
That little detail could allow the likes of Fulham and Brighton and Hove Albion to make a pitch for the attacker’s services in the meantime, not to mention Benfica who also retain an interest according to CaughtOffside sources with knowledge of the striker’s current situation.
Vitoria de Guimaraes are likely to want closer to €20m in order to sell the player, but that apparently won’t put off the English top-flight trio who have already watched a number of Jota’s matches.
The player himself is open to continuing his career in the Premier League, and time will tell which club is able to secure his services.
At present, Benfica are the team that are leading the race because they’re ready to pay the asking price and have already started negotiations.
CaughtOffside sources have suggested that Fulham, Brighton and West Ham need to speed up their own negotiations with Vitoria in the near future otherwise the player will be Benfica bound.