David Moyes should urge West Ham United to sign Blackburn Rovers striker Adam Armstrong and acquire the perfect weapon to pair with Jesse Lingard this summer.
What’s the word?
According to Claret & Hugh, Armstrong has been identified as West Ham’s primary option to fill the void Sebastien Haller left after his £20m move to AFC Ajax in January.
The Irons are expected to focus their efforts on bringing Armstrong to the London Stadium at the end of the season, having opted against a move for the 24-year-old during the winter market.
Should Armstrong be West Ham’s top target?
Yes, he’d be perfect
No, he isn’t good enough
Moyes weighed up an £8m approach but held off in favour of continuing to build a scouting report on the forward, who Rovers are said to value at £25m after scoring 20 goals in 32 Championship games this season.
Blackburn believe Armstrong is worth a figure in that region after Ollie Watkins sealed a £28m move to Aston Villa last September, having ended the 2019/20 campaign as the second-tier’s joint top-scorer with 26 goals in 49 games.
Rovers may have to accept a slightly lesser sum as Armstrong will enter the final year of his £17,000-per-week contract in the summer, but cannot go too low as Newcastle United will be due 40% of any profit on the £2m they paid the Magpies in 2018.
Moyes has previously been claimed to have carried out personal checks on Armstrong’s progress at Ewood Park, and does not appear to have been put off by his run of four games without a goal before missing Blackburn’s last three with a hamstring injury.
Should West Ham sign Armstrong?
Armstrong emerging as West Ham’s top striker target would suggest Moyes has been pleased with the forward’s efforts despite Blackburn’s downturn in form, which has seen only six of the Championship’s 24 sides claim fewer points since the turn of the year.
That record would be just five of the 24 sides without Armstrong’s winning effort at home to Luton Town on January 30th, the last win the West Denton-born forward was involved in before losing six of the following seven league games.
Rovers boss Tony Mowbray has continued to praise Armstrong’s efforts, despite his side’s result, noting last month that the 5 ft 8 forward is “really special” and has “Premier League quality”.
Mowbray has previously lauded the attacker for his “speed and dynamic movement” that allows Blackburn to play into space, knowing he can attack the ball and create problems for opposing sides to try and contain.
West Ham taking that on board next season could see the Irons acquire the perfect weapon for Lingard to operate in-behind, should the Manchester United talent remain at the London Stadium beyond his loan deal as Moyes currently hopes will be the case.
Only Aaron Cresswell has averaged a higher number of key passes (1.5) per Premier League game for the Hammers this term than Lingard (1.2) has since his winter arrival, but 0.8 of the defender’s chances created have come from corners or free-kicks, per WhoScored.
Of Lingard’s, just 0.2 have come from set-pieces, while Michail Antonio has offered the second-most shots per game (2.2) under Moyes with fewer attempts on goal than Armstrong (4.7) is producing in the Championship as the division’s third-top scorer.
If Moyes can pull off deals with Blackburn and Manchester United this summer, then, West Ham could have an exciting attack next season in Armstrong and Lingard.
AND in other news, West Ham face a £51.5m asking price to sign a dynamic star who grew up learning from Frank Lampard…