West Ham are reportedly showing interest in Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis, who has been in outstanding form this season.
The Greek international, a teammate of West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos, made headlines when he scored twice against England in a 2-1 defeat at Wembley in October.
However, any hopes of signing him may be premature. Pavlidis is attracting attention from at least eight Premier League clubs, including Everton, Crystal Palace, Brentford, and Chelsea.
Since moving to Benfica from AZ Alkmaar last summer, Pavlidis has registered an impressive 18 goals and six assists in 31 Liga Portugal games, establishing himself as one of Europe’s most in-demand strikers.
Benfica, aware of his value, have inserted an £85 million buyout clause into his contract, which makes a move to West Ham improbable given the club’s current financial limitations.
If Head of Recruitment Kyle Macaulay is to succeed in the upcoming transfer window, it will likely be through discovering lower-cost talents before they hit the spotlight, rather than pursuing high-value players like Pavlidis.
Although there’s no confirmed approach from West Ham for the 26-year-old striker, the club did express genuine interest in another Portugal-based forward, Samu Omorodion, earlier this year.
In reality, West Ham are not in a position to spend over £80 million on any one player this summer.
Still, Claret & Hugh understands that two transfer targets based in Greece continue to be closely monitored by the club.
