Would a move for the next Zlatan Ibrahimović be smart business for West Ham?

As we all know, West Ham are desperately looking out for a new striker in the summer and new links are appearing every day.

Moyes’ decision to not bring in a new centre forward in January was a risky one but so far it has worked out well, with new recruit Jesse Lingard in blistering form at present.

After many links to the likes of Ivan Toney, Adam Armstrong, Abdallah Sima, Danny Ings and Tammy Abraham, it seems as if West Ham have a new Striker on their radar. According to Calcio Mercato, ACF Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahović is the latest forward to have the pleasure of being rumoured to be on David Moyes’ summer wish list.

The 21-year-old Serbian International has recently been dubbed as the next Zlatan Ibrahimović and if he is anything like the Swede, then West Ham would be wise to start making their interest a bit more serious.

West Ham could look to support striker Michail Antonio by signing highly-rated Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahović.

The young forward is clearly a talent but is he good enough to improve the Hammers front line?

Here are some positives and negatives of potentially signing Vlahovic:

Positives

The Serbian has had somewhat of a breakthrough season and has now cemented his place as the first choice Striker in a struggling Fiorentina side. According to TransferMarkt, Vlahovic has scored 9 goals and has assisted one so far this season, which is showing a big improvement on his previous tally of six league goals in 2019/20.

It says a lot that at 21 years old, Vlahović is practically carrying his side who currently sit in 16th place in Serie A just five points off the relegation zone. Vlahović is showing that he has improved on his first full season and is now proving that he is more than capable of leading the Italian sides front line.

The 6’2 striker is a powerful player, good in the air and as he has shown this season, is a very good finisher. The player is quite clearly a great talent and he has the potential to get even better if the Hammers do decide to follow up their interest.

If West Ham were to sign him then he would certainly fit into Moyes’ new ethos of signing young and hungry players. As well as this, Vlahović would certainly have a good potential sell-on fee especially if he was to adjust to the Premier League, meaning West Ham would be able to profit from their investment.

West Ham United

Negatives

A potential negative for this deal is that Fiorentina are asking for a fee of around €25-30 million for their top scorer. It remains to be seen whether West Ham’s hierarchy would spend that amount on a player who is relatively unproven, especially as they refused to pay a bargain £15 million for then inform Boulaye Dia in January.

For that price the Hammers could certainly look elsewhere in their striker search, which could represent better value for money. That amount could see us sign Adam Armstrong from Blackburn who has 20 goals this season and has plenty of experience in England.

It could also go towards a move for Ivan Toney who has bettered Armstrong’s tally and has scored 25 goals and assisted a further 9 in the Championship this season.

Another issue is the reported competition for the player. According to Calcio Mercato, Borussia Dortmund are also interested in the 21-year-old if Erling Haaland was to depart in the summer. If Dortmund were to show interest then it would be hard to see West Ham beating the German giants to the young Striker.

Vlahović is undoubtedly a talent but it could be a big risk to sign him as he might not adapt well to the Premier League and the last thing West Ham need is another big-money striker failing to perform.

Overall, while the Serbian is definitely one West Ham should be keeping their eye on, there are better players on the market who would represent better value for money for West Ham. The Hammers need a striker who will definitely score goals for them and hit the ground running, especially if they qualify for European football next season.