© Provided by Football FanCastatalanta striker duvan zapata celebrates scoring against fiorentina serie a
West Ham United have another new striker on their shortlist ahead of the summer.
What's the word?
According to Eurosport, the Irons are tracking Atalanta forward Duvan Zapata ahead of the upcoming window as they fear Tammy Abraham could be out of reach financially.
It's claimed that David Moyes will have around £35m to spend on a new forward but that is still short of Chelsea's £40m valuation, and that's on top of his desired £140k-per-week wages.
Zapata provides an interesting alternative and sits alongside Brentford talisman Ivan Toney and Sparta Prague's Adam Hlozek on Hammers' priority list.
Sign him up
If Abraham is too expensive, then Moyes should absolutely target the Serie A goal machine instead. It's no secret that his squad needs another forward and at the very last that's one extra frontman.
GSB never replaced Sebastian Haller after sanctioning his exit during the January transfer window after just 18 months at the London Stadium, meaning the Scottish manager was left with an injury-prone Michail Antonio as his only senior option.
The 30-year-old powerhouse has proven to be a prolific marksman in Italy throughout his career and this season he has been in fine form, providing 18 goals and 12 assists in all competitions, via Transfermarkt.
That has taken his overall tally for Atalanta to a whopping 65 strikes in only 126 appearances, which is around a goal every other game.
His physical attributes make for the most appeal as at 6 foot 2, he has the stature to cause many Premier League defences nightmares, and that is something that his former teammate, Papu Gomez, alluded to last season.
Speaking on Instagram (via Goal), he claimed:
"Zapata's shorts look like underwear, he is so big. Sometimes I don't even want to get close to him in a match because he's a beast and it hurts. When he is feeling good he's like a train - you throw the ball forward and 'ciao!'"
Furthermore, ex-Colombia boss Jose Pekerman praised Zapata after his international debut and suggested that they "need him with his power." He has since gone onto land 16 caps for his national side.
It remains to be seen how much of that £35m would be eaten up by a move for the Atalanta sensation but given CIES value him at ?30m (£26m), he should certainly come a lot cheaper than Abraham, who is yet to deliver as consistently as Zapata.
Moyes will also finally get another option up front, ending the nightmare of the last few months.
AND in other news, Huge blow: Moyes handed injury setback, Irons star "may not play again this season".
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