West Ham ‘Accelerated’ For Attacker, Look To Have Overtaken Rivals | OneFootball

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West Ham United have ‘accelerated’ in the race to sign Roberto Piccoli from Cagliari and ‘appear to have overtaken Benfica’.

Graham Potter is keen to get his business right this summer and will need to ease the worries of the fans after Mohammed Kudus was sold to Tottenham Hotspur.

That sale saw club legend Tony Cottee demand Potter was given the full Kudus fee to reinvest and West Ham have signed El Hadji Malick Diouf from Slavia Prague.

Kyle Walker-Peters has also arrived on a free transfer, but Potter wants options in the final third and Cagliari attacker Piccoli is on his radar.

The 24-year-old was at Cagliari on loan from Atalanta last season and showed the club supporters his ability in front of goal.

He eventually finished the season with ten goals and three assists in 37 Serie A matches, prompting the club to trigger his option-to-buy clause.

Portuguese side Benfica have been pushing to sign Piccoli, but West Ham look to be flexing their muscles, according to Italian outlet Tutto Mercato.

The Hammers have ‘accelerated’ and ‘appear to have overtaken Benfica’ in the race to secure the forward, who Cagliari paid €12.5m for.

It is unclear how much West Ham would have to pay to Cagliari to take Piccoli to London this summer.

West Ham have also been looking at former Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson with talks held.

Another Italian is on the radar too in the shape of Sassuolo striker Andrea Pinamonti, but there is competition from Brentford and Burnley.