West Ham United lining up summer move for Ollie Watkins  | OneFootball

West Ham United have turned to Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins in their search for a new marksman, according to The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg.

David Moyes is keen to add more quality in attack with his side’s only recognised striker in Michail Antonio now approaching the latter years of his career and has looked off the pace in recent months.

The Hammers are one of many teams interested in landing the highly-coveted Darwin Núñez, although the Benfica man is widely expected to move to a European heavyweight due to his sizeable asking price.

Armando Broja has been mooted as a possible alternative as the Chelsea forward’s loan at Southampton comes to an end this summer, while the East Londoners are also keeping tabs on Eddie Nketiah whose Arsenal contract is on the verge of expiring.

In the meantime, Watkins becomes the latest name to join a long list of potential transfer targets for West Ham and it is not hard to see why given that the 26-year-old has reached doubled figures for goals in each of his two Premier League campaigns since moving from Brentford back in 2020.

His performances at Villa Park earned him his first call-up to the England squad in March 2021 when he went on to make his international debut for Gareth Southgate’s men in a World Cup qualifier against San Marino.

While Steven Gerrard could be open to letting go of Watkins to fund summer plans of his own, a fee of at least £50million is likely to be demanded which could prove to be a stumbling block for West Ham, who are also looking to strengthen their options in other areas of the pitch.

With the club now closing in on consecutive top-seven league finishes, this summer window promises to be a very crucial one for West Ham if they are to take the next step which would be challenging for Champions League football.