West Ham hold transfer talks for ex-Man Utd target Chelsea tried to sign

Gambian attacker Adama Bojang was previously eyed by the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea in the summer of 2023

West Ham are weighing up a potential swoop for Gambian wonderkid Adama Bojang. The exciting 21-year-old forward previously caught the eye of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea in 2023 before later joining French side Stade Reims.

It’s understood Chelsea were willing to pay up to £1million for his signature in a deal that would have seen Bojang land at Strasbourg, however, Blue Co did not wish to bid higher than that figure and Reims eventually wrapped up an agreement worth in the region of £3m.

Bojang spent last season on loan in Switzerland with Grasshopper Club Zurich where he struck six goals and provided two assists in 27 appearances. In April, he struck a hat-trick against FC Luzern and also hit a brace against INEOS-owned FC Lausanne-Sport in February.

The Gambia U20 international is widely regarded as one of the best African talents of his generation and was also courted by the likes of RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt and Hoffenheim before sealing his switch to France two years ago.

Now he could be on the move again following Reims’ relegation to Ligue 2 which means they will have no choice but to reluctantly listen to offers in a bid to raise funds.

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Earlier this week, West Ham, who have been tracking the player for some time, held talks over a move and according to sources, Bojang is expected to be available for a price in the region of £10m to £11m.

But the Hammers are not the only Premier League club interested as Everton and Brentford have also made enquiries for the highly-rated attacker, who is being tipped to make an impact in one of Europe’s top-five domestic leagues.

West Ham are keen to strengthen their forward line and have also looked at 22-year-old Rangers star Hamza Igamane. The club’s head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay has been tasked with identifying targets for Graham Potter as the duo look to make wholesale changes to West Ham’s underperforming squad.

Club Brugge midfielder Raphael Onyedika is another player of admiration while West Ham are also chasing the signing of a new goalkeeper following the departure of Lukasz Fabianski with Aaron Ramsdale among the names under consideration.

They will also need to replace the likes of Aaron Cresswell, Vladimir Coufal, Danny Ings and Kurt Zouma who will officially depart the London Stadium at the end of the month as free agents.

It’s been a slow start to summer business as the West Ham hierarchy are looking to use sales to supplement their transfer budget but they have already rejected an informal approach from Chelsea for Mohammed Kudus which included the chance to sign multiple Blues stars as part of a potential swap deal.

Kudus’ West Ham release clause is only active from July 1 to July 10.

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