West Ham United are reportedly keeping tabs on Cagliari’s Argentine forward Giovanni Simeone but face competition from several clubs in his pursuit.
According to a report from Transfer Market Web, West Ham United’s search for a new striker has taken them to Serie A, with the Hammers monitoring Cagliari forward Giovanni Simeone over a potential summer swoop.
Son of Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone, the 26-year-old started out at River Plate in Argentina before moving to Europe in 2016 when he signed for Italian outfit Genoa. The forward was snapped up by Fiorentina two years later, where he enjoyed a fairly productive spell before moving to Cagliari in 2019.
Having arrived on a loan deal initially, Simeone signed for the club permanently last summer. To date, he has featured 70 times for Gli Isolani, producing a rather underwhelming tally of 18 goals, of which only six came in the 2020/21 campaign. Nonetheless, the 26-year-old seems to be in demand in the summer transfer window, with several clubs eyeing a move for him.
Indeed, Ligue 1 outfit Olympique Marseille are said to be in the hunt along with the likes of Celta Vigo and Villarreal, while West Ham United, too, have been monitoring the five-time capped Argentine international, as per the aforementioned report.
West Ham are in need of a new centre-forward, that is no top secret. Having sold Sebastien Haller to AFC Ajax during the January transfer window, David Moyes & co. did not recruit a replacement for the Frenchman, leaving Michail Antonio as the only option up top. Considering that the Englishman is in his thirties and has had injury issues in the past, it is imperative that another striker is signed.
To that end, the east London giants have been heavily linked with a move for Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham, while there have been murmurs of interest in KRC Genk’s Nigerian forward Paul Onuachu as well. Now, Simeone, too, has seemingly emerged as a transfer target for the Irons.
However, the report does add that it is Marseille who are currently the frontrunners to sign the 26-year-old, with West Ham merely monitoring his situation. Whether anything changes on that front in the coming weeks remains to be seen, although the Hammers would be better off looking at more prolific options than Simeone.
