West Ham incredibly overtake Bayern Munich in race for Bundesliga star thanks to one crucial factor
Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen
West Ham United are one of the main suitors for a Bayer Leverkusen star, having surprisingly moved past Bayern Munich in the chase for him, according to reports emerging from Germany.
West Ham are prioritising a striker signing in the January transfer window, with David Moyes clearly lacking suitable players in the position. Michail Antonio has been out since late November with a knee problem, forcing Moyes to use winger Jarrod Bowen up front.
The Scot does not feel Danny Ings is the right profile to start every game for him, while teenager Divin Mubama lacks the experience needed to score regular goals in the Premier League.
Bowen has done brilliantly at centre-forward, having registered five goals and three assists in 10 appearances while operating as West Ham’s main focal point in attack. But West Ham must sign a new striker if they are to continue on their upward trajectory, and Stuttgart goal machine Serhou Guirassy is one concrete target.
But attack is not the only area West Ham look set to bolster next month. When discussing their transfer plans recently, Fabrizio Romano revealed that club chiefs are hoping for a big transfer window involving several new arrivals. And that could see a centre-back move to the London Stadium in addition to Guirassy.
The player in question is Jonathan Tah, who has been on Leverkusen’s books since July 2015.
According to German sources Bild and Fussball Transfers (via Sport Witness), West Ham and Bayern have both expressed an interest in Tah’s capture.
Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel wants a new centre-half to arrive at the Allianz Arena this winter, and this has seen him land on the 27-year-old as a target. Indeed, Tuchel has ‘taken a closer look’ at Tah by watching some of his recent performances.
West Ham in strong position to land Jonathan Tah
While West Ham would normally struggle to convince a player to join them over Bayern, given how often the German giants win major trophies, that is not the case here.
The reports suggest that Tah is unlikely to sign for Bayern, as he is instead pushing to move to England. The Premier League has always been his ‘dream destination’, and he could well fulfil that desire in January.
West Ham are hoping to benefit from the player’s stance, having ‘put the feelers out’ over a possible transfer.
It would make a lot of sense for the Irons to begin negotiations in January rather than the summer, too. As part of the German’s contract, he has an €18million (£15.6m) release clause. Although, that only becomes active in the summer.
As such, it may make sense for West Ham to try and sign him before then, so they can try and negotiate a lower price.
Signing Tah would add plenty of experience to the West Ham backline. He has represented Leverkusen, Hamburger and Fortuna Dusseldorf in the Bundesliga, while also representing the German national team on 21 occasions.
