West Ham United have made a late move in a bid to bring Sheraldo Becker to the Premier League on transfer deadline day.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to Florian Plettenberg, with the Sky Sports Germany reporter revealing in a recent post on Twitter that David Moyes has submitted an enquiry to Union Berlin regarding the 27-year-old forward – who is believed to have an asking price in the region of €15m (£13m).
However, the journalist went on to suggest that the Hammers are not alone in their pursuit of the Suriname international, with Everton also said to be considering launching a late move for the former Ajax talent over what remains on the January transfer window.
Regarding the interest in Becker, Plettenberg said: “News Becker: A player to watch out on deadline day! There’s movement in it. Everton are considering an official offer because [Conor] Gallagher is close to being off as reported. West Ham also inquired about the fast winger from Union Berlin.”
“Quality”
Considering just how poor West Ham have been in the final third so far this season – with the Hammers’ 17 goals scored ranking them as the joint third-worst attack in the Premier League – coupled with how impressive Becker has been in Germany this term, it is not difficult to understand why Moyes would be keen on a last-minute swoop for the Union forward on Tuesday.
Indeed, over his 18 Bundesliga appearances in the current campaign, the £8.5m-rated talent has been in sensational form going forwards, having already scored seven goals – outperforming in xG of 2.16 – registered four assists and created four big chances, in addition to taking an average of 1.7 shots, making 1.4 key passes and completing 1.2 crosses per game.
These returns have seen the £9k-per-week forward average a rather remarkable Sofascore statistical rating of 7.21, not only ranking him as Urs Fischer’s third-best performer in the league but also as the joint 16th-best player in the top flight of German football as a whole – playing a key role in Union currently sitting just one point behind top of the table Bayern Munich.
Rather unsurprisingly, the 27-year-old’s performances have seen him earn a considerable amount of praise, with journalist Shark Gutierrez dubbing the attacker both “quality” and “class” back in November, while Josh Bunting labelled the five-cap international both “clinical” and “creative” earlier this season.
As such, with it very much appearing as if Becker could be exactly the sort of player Moyes requires to inject some life into his West Ham attack in the second half of the season, it would indeed appear as if the Union sensation would represent a quality last-minute signing for the east London club this winter.
