West Ham eyeing big £15m Leeds United transfer swoop as Rangers lurk | OneFootball

West Ham United have bid £15 million to sign Leeds United striker Joel Piroe.

West Ham United begin their return to the Championship away at Burnley on Sunday afternoon and The Hammers are seeking to bolster their attack, reportedly making a £15 million bid for Leeds United striker Joel Piroe.

West Ham were relegated from the Premier League last season but are expected to immediately return to the top-flight, being one of the red-hot favourites for the second-tier title this season.

Having kept hold of Nuno Espirito Santo, who has previously romped to the Championship title with Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham’s biggest piece of business so far this summer has also been to keep hold of captain Jarrod Bowen.

The Irons have brought in experienced and versatile defender Joel Veltman, with the Dutchman arriving on a free transfer following his departure from Brighton and Hove Albion.

As well as Veltman, The Hammers also completed the permanent addition of Keiber Lamadrid from Deportivo La Guaira after his loan spell at the London Stadium.

The last week has seen business begin to pick up with the £5 million addition of Israel international attacker Manor Solomon from Tottenham Hotspur and the £22 million signing of Belgian midfielder Arne Engels from Celtic.

As they continue to strengthen an already impressive squad, West Ham now appear to be lining up a true Championship marksman in Piroe to add further firepower.

West Ham bid £15m for Joel Piroe

Action Images

According to Dutch journalist Rik Elfrink, via a post on his X account, West Ham United have offered £15 million to Leeds United for the signing of striker Joel Piroe, who has also been linked with Rangers.

The former PSV Eindhoven man is said to be keen on departing Elland Road this summer in order to get more regular football and Elfrink has suggested that there is a ‘significant’ chance of that happening.

Elfrink has explained that talks are ongoing between the clubs and Dutch giants PSV will be set to receive about £500,000 from the deal if it goes through.

Piroe came through the academy at PSV before departing for Swansea City in the summer of 2021, having barely played in the Netherlands, even including a loan stint at Sparta Rotterdam.

With the Swans, though, the now Suriname international attacker scored 46 goals in 96 games across all competitions, earning him a move to Leeds for a fee reportedly in excess of £10 million.

Piroe was a part of a star-studded attack as Leeds went on to lose the 2023-24 Championship play-off final, having scored 13 goals in the league that season for the Yorkshire giants.

He then went on to hit 19 goals in 46 games as Leeds won the Championship title with 100 points a year later, before falling down the pecking order in the Premier League – failing to score in 16 appearances in the top-flight last season.

West Ham are becoming stacked in attack

Action Images

West Ham have made some big money sales this summer, with Mateus Fernandes having joined Tottenham and Crysencio Summerville moving to the Saudi Pro League to sign for Al Hilal.

The final couple of weeks of their summer transfer window now appear to be based around signing strong and leaving them with perhaps one of the best squads in Championship history.

Their quality in attack was on display in the first round of the EFL Cup last week as they came from a goal down to ease past Portsmouth by three goals to one, courtesy of a strike from captain Bowen as well as a brace from former Lazio striker Taty Castellanos, who had impressed in the Premier League last year after moving from Rome to London in January.

As well as those two, West Ham also boast the new signings of Solomon and Lamadrid, as well as January addition, Pablo, Ivory Coast international Maxwel Cornet, who could be involved in the first-team picture after spending the last couple of seasons out on loan at Southampton and Genoa, respectively.

Niclas Fullkrug remains at the club but is expected to depart after spending the second half of last season on loan at AC Milan and there is, despite all of that quality and depth, still room for West Ham to strengthen the central striking role so they are not wholly reliant on Castellanos in that position – and the pedigree possessed by Piroe at Championship level marks him out as another real coup for the level.