Agent confirms Aston Villa star to replace Michail Antonio at West Ham

Almost all West Ham fans want the club to bring in a replacement for a long-serving Hammers star this summer. That is none other than Jamaican striker, Michail Antonio. Ever since arriving for £5 million from Nottingham Forest, the striker has had a wonderful nine year spell at the London Stadium. He arrived in the summer of 2015 and expectations were not high, largely due to his young age at the time. But he proved why the Hammers trusted and brought him and has been a difference-maker for West Ham.

Antonio has scored 82 goals for West Ham in his 308 appearances for the club. The highlight of his West Ham career was his heroics in the 2022/23 UEFA Conference League win where he scored six goals and two assists in the winning campaign. One would hope that this is not his last contribution for the Hammers.

However, at the same time, the forward is 34-years-old and last season showed the need for his successor at the club. And currently, there is a perfect like for like Antonio replacement on the transfer market.

Agent confirms Aston Villa star to replace Michail Antonio at West Ham

West Ham view Aston Villa's Colombian forward Jhon Duran as a long term solution for the number nine role. However, Villa's £40 million demands have proven to be a major stumbling block for the Hammers in the negotiations.

Recently, there has been some optimism about the deal finally going through as HITC reported Duran's willingness to leave Villa Park this summer.

Now, more positive news has emerged on the matter with Jhon Duran's agent, Jonathan Herrera confirming the striker's preference to join West Ham via AS, saying,

"There is great interest from West Ham, we have been talking to them and the club. We are going to see what happens in the rest of the market.
I just can’t see how this transfer won’t happen."

- Jonathan Herrera

Add to that, Villa's struggles with PSR meaning they have to raise funds from player sales can further prompt them to accept an offer less than £40 million transfer fee along with significant add-ons in the deal. This deal structure makes perfect sense for West Ham as they can pay around £30 million upfront and secure the player at present with performance related add-ons as part of the transfer.

This comes as brilliant news for West Ham who have recently witnessed lot of struggles regarding bringing in their ideal transfer targets. With around three weeks left before the start of the Premier League, the Hammers face a race against time to assemble a quality squad before the season kicks off.