West Ham told to raise £12m offer for Nottingham Forest’s Matty Cash
West Ham are likely to fall short in their attempt to sign Matty Cash unless they raise their £12m bid for the Nottingham Forest right-back.
David Moyes is desperate to strengthen his struggling side and, with Ryan Fredericks unavailable with a hamstring injury, he is after a right-back. West Ham’s proposal would have seen them pay £10m plus £2m in add-ons but Forest have little incentive to sell the 22-year-old for that amount. Milan have reportedly put together a package worth £15m, Southampton are monitoring the situation and Forest, fourth in the Championship, do not want to undermine their promotion push by losing one of their best players on the cheap.
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Cash, also capable of playing in midfield, is not short of suitors after an impressive campaign and Sabri Lamouchi is keen to keep him at the City Ground. “Don’t talk about players going out,” Forest’s manager said this week. “We want to talk about players who can come in. We are doing well.”
West Ham are battling for Premier League survival, out of the bottom three only because they have a better goal difference than Bournemouth. They have been hit by injuries and Moyes wants to bolster a light squad, particularly in central midfield. West Ham are monitoring Sampdoria’s Ronaldo Vieira and Slavia Prague’s Tomas Soucek, Stoke’s Joe Allen remains of interest and there could be attempts to sign Milan’s Franck Kessié and Nantes’ Abdoulaye Touré on loan.
Moyes would also like to improve his attacking options and West Ham have been offered the CSKA Moscow striker Fyodor Chalov, who has been targeted by Chelsea. A loan with an option to make the deal permanent for £25m has been mooted but there are doubts over whether the 21-year-old Russian would adjust to the pace of English football.
West Ham will not recall Grady Diangana from his loan at West Brom, who have agreed to pay £1.5m to keep the winger until the end of the season. Diangana is out with a hamstring injury.
