£12.7 million striker lifts lid on West Ham transfer rumours

Although West Ham had completed the signing of striker Niclas Fullkrug from Borussia Dortmund in the transfer window, the Hammers still considered bringing in a young centre forward given that the Germany international is already 31-years-old. Previously, West Ham had attempted to secure the services of Aston Villa's in-form 20-year-old striker Jhon Duran and thus, wanted to bring a similar profile player as the Colombia international in the transfer window. Therefore, the Hammers were said to be keen on signing former Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham and Spain's rising star, Samu Omorodion.

However, West Ham couldn't materialise any of these deals and Abraham joined Milan on a loan move while Omorodion arrived in a £12.7 million move to Porto. In the case of the former, West Ham didn't submit an opening bid to Roma but were said to be in transfer talks with Chelsea, who almost completed the signing of Omorodion from Atletico Madrid. The Hammers wanted to bring Omorodion on a season long loan move from Chelsea, who were planning to send him on a loan transfer to continue his development as a world class striker in the Premier League.

£12.7 million striker lifts lid on West Ham transfer rumours

But that wasn't the case, as Chelsea and Omorodion couldn't reach an agreement on personal terms, and the 20-year-old promising forward moved to Porto instead. Playing for Porto, Omorodion has started the new season on a high note finding the back of the net seven times, that included an impressive brace in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League. Now, Omorodion has lifted the lid on the transfer rumours surrounding him, saying,

"I went through a very difficult period, because, after all, everyone knows that I was about to sign for Chelsea. But the truth is that it didn’t happen. It was for one reason, God didn’t want it."

- Samu Omorodion

While Omorodion highlighted that he was close to signing for Chelsea, the Porto star didn't talk about any loan move to West Ham, suggesting that the Hammers weren't much interested in this transfer move. Moreover, Omorodion could have become a regular starter as well for Chelsea, if he joined Enzo Maresca's side, forming a brilliant front three alongside Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson. Therefore, Julen Lopetegui's side were not highly likely to secure his signature on a loan move, and will consider signing other young forwards in the upcoming transfer windows.