West Ham identify alternative to Tammy Abraham who is £30m cheaper but face Premier League competition for striker

Originally posted on Caught Offside
By Jaikuran Randhawa | Last updated 5/5/21

According to the latest transfer notebook from Mike McGrath for the Telegraph (subscription required), West Ham United and Crystal Palace are eyeing a summer move for RB Leipzig ace Hwang Hee-Chan.

McGrath notes that Hee-Chan is seen as a player with ‘good value’ in the transfer market, as demonstrated by a £10m price-tag.

Hee-Chan impressed with Red Bull Salzburg in the 19/20 season, alongside the likes of Erling Haaland and Takumi Minamino, with the ace notching three goals and five assists in the Champions League group stages, with four of those contributions coming against Liverpool and Napoli.

Those displays earned the South Korean ace a move to RB Leipzig last summer, though the 25-year-old has played a fairly minimal role in what’s proved to be a difficult debut campaign in Germany.

McGrath adds that Hee-Chan is an ‘affordable target’ for West Ham, unlike Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, whom David Moyes has publicly ruled out a move for if the £40m valuation sticks.

Hwang Hee-Chan has not played much of a role in his debut season with RB Leipzig.

The Hammers are in desperate need of a striker in the summer window, they were already threadbare up top and then they sold big-money flop Sebastien Haller without securing a January replacement.

Hee-Chan has notched three goals and two assists for Leipzig this season, but these all came in the German Cup. The versatile forward has only started one Bundesliga match so far.

£10m really doesn’t seem a bad fee at all for someone that has shown promise against top quality opposition in recent seasons, but West Ham will have to compete with Crystal Palace for Hwang.

It also remains to be seen whether Hee-Chan would even be open to a move. The attacker nicknamed ‘bull’ will be managed by his former Salzburg boss from the summer, as company man Jesse Marsch will replace Julian Nagelsmann, who will take the reins from Hansi Flick at Bayern Munich.

This article first appeared on Caught Offside and was syndicated with permission.

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