West Ham clear to sign 6ft 3in striker after surprise Newcastle decision

With a month to go until the January transfer opens for business and silly season begins again, West Ham have been handed an unexpected boost by Premier League rivals Newcastle United.

Eddie Howe’s side are aiming for another Champions League finish in the 2023/24 season, which is something that’s likely to be beyond the Hammers, with respect.

That might have something to do with the Magpies turning their attentions to different targets in the transfer market.

One player who they’d been linked with for some time was Paris Saint-Germain outcast, Hugo Ekitike, but as TeamTalk now report, there has been some major pushback from club executives and he’s no longer on the list for a move to St. James’ Park.

The 21-year-old has managed just nine minutes of action in the current campaign according to WhoScored, and will clearly understand that his time in Paris is now up.

West Ham are also known to be long-term admirers of the player, Foot Mercato (h/t Hammers News) noting back in September that the east Londoners had failed with a last-ditch bid for him in the summer window.

The failure had been that they’d not allowed enough time for a deal to be agreed rather than the player turning them down, so with Newcastle now out of the picture, the Hammers can push forward prior to the window opening in the hope that they can get their man just as soon as January 1 comes around.