West Ham are “ones to watch” as the race to sign Leicester City forward Harvey Barnes hots up, according to CBS journalist Ben Jacobs.
Barnes scored 13 Premier League goals for a Leicester side that were relegated to the Championship last season and looks certain to remain in the top flight next term.
Tottenham have been touted as a potential destination for Barnes, with Ange Postecoglou looking to bring in players following his appointment, while Arsenal are keeping tabs on his situation.
Writing for the Caught Offside substack on Tuesday (20 June), Jacobs had this update: “Barnes had a wonderful season for Leicester despite being relegated, scoring 13 Premier League goals. Spurs and West Ham are ones to watch. I would keep an eye on Villa, too, where Barnes’ ex-Leicester teammate Your Tielemans moved to recently on a free transfer.
“Arsenal haven’t joined the race yet, but it’s probably fair to say they are monitoring the situation.”
One thing West Ham struggled with this season was mixing a Premier League campaign with going for glory in Europe.
Ultimately, David Moyes managed to stave off the threat of relegation and bring home a European trophy in the form of the Europa Conference League, which came via a last-gasp 2-1 win over Fiorentina in Prague earlier this month.
That success means West Ham will be upgraded to the Europa League next term and thus there will be a continuation of a Thursday-Sunday schedule next term.
It means West Ham have to be smart in the transfer market and they could scarcely make a smarter move than signing Barnes.
With Jarrod Bowen on one side and Barnes on the other, West Ham would have no shortage of quality out wide, with both men capable of creating chances and scoring goals.
West Ham need an active window and targeting Barnes should be chief among that.
