‘Would be a brilliant signing’ – West Ham eyeing transfer swoop for EFL midfielder: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Ham have reportedly registered their interest in signing West Brom star Matheus Pereira, according to journalist Ekrem Konur.

Pereira has evidently made a good impression on the Hammers, having netted 12 goals and been on hand to provide six assists in all competitions for the Baggies last term.

His efforts weren’t quite enough to see them avoid relegation from the Premier League though, which has resulted in interest in his services heightening heading towards the 2021/22 campaign.

Konur claims that West Ham are looking at signing Pereira as a potential Andriy Yarmolenko replacement, whilst also mentioning that Al Hilal are also keen on reaching an agreement with the 25-year-old this summer.

We ask our Football League World writers what they make of West Ham’s rumoured interest in signing Pereira, and whether he’d be a good enough addition to David Moyes’ squad or not.

Jordan Rushworth:

Matheus Pereira would be an excellent signing for West Ham to make this summer and he is exactly the profile of player that they need to try and bolster their attacking options.

It seems inevitable that he will be leaving West Brom this summer at some stage and a move to the Hammers would be a good one for him to continue delivering the sort of performances he produced last term.

Pereira would be able to play in various positions in the attacking third including off the striker and also in one of the wide areas. That would see him be a strong back-up for West Ham’s other attacking players in their squad and that is going to be needed for them to cope with the extra demands of Premier League and European football.

You could see Pereira linking up well with the other quality players that West Ham posses in the attacking third and his creativity and eye for a killer pass would be potentially crucial in getting best out of the Hammers forwards next term.

This is not an easy market for any side to strengthen their squad in the Premier League this summer, and there are few players out there that are available that would be better options for the Hammers than Pereira.

Toby Wilding:

I do think that this could be a really good signing for West Ham if they can get it done.

If they are not going to be able to bring Jesse Lingard back from Manchester United this summer, then they will have to bring in another option to provide an attacking impetus to their midfield.

That is something that Pereira would certainly provide for David Moyes’ side, and given his impressive record in the top-flight for a West Brom team who suffered relegation last season, you do feel he could be able to make a more significant impact for a Hammers side who will obviously be aiming further up the table in the coming campaign.

Indeed, Pereira’s signing would be something of a coup for West Ham given that interest from elsewhere, and with the Brazilian said to be keen to play European football, which the Hammers can offer him, this will surely be worth pursuing for those in charge at The London Stadium.

Can you score full marks on this 22-question West Brom quiz?

1 of 22

The Hawthorns has been West Brom’s home ground since which year?

1906

1900

1911

1903

Phil Spencer:

I think that this would be a brilliant signing.

West Ham United have enjoyed real success over the last couple of years when it comes to poaching the top players in the Championship and I think that this would be another successful deal.

Pereira has already proven that he has the ability to be a big player in the Premier League, with plenty of goals and assists to his name last term.

If you put him in a side with better players you can only see those numbers getting better.

Providing the fee was fair, I think that this would make a lot of sense and would be the ideal platform to help Pereira reach the next level of his career.