West Ham United are in talks to sign Russia’s captain Fedor Smolov from FK Krasnodar. According to recent reports in the English press, the Hammers are ready to pounce on the 27-year-old’s signature before the transfer window comes to a close at the end of this month.
The 27-year-old striker is eyeing up a move to east London and West Ham are trying to negotiate a loan deal with an option to buy him permanently in the summer, but Smolov’s current club Krasnodar only fancies a £12m permanent transfer for the Russian. The former Dinamo Moscow player has found the back of the net 59 times in 90 matches for Krasnodar and 11 times in 28 international matches for the Russia national team, which includes two memorable strikes in a friendly match versus Spain in November last year.
Smolov has the ability to speak fluent English and has been dubbed as the “Russian David Beckham”. He is widely expected to be one of the stars when the World Cup finals kick off in Russia later this year. The Hammers are eager to bring in a new forward before the end of the transfer period and the potential signing of the Russian star could bolster their attacking options going into the second half of their campaign.
The east London outfit finds themselves in 11th place in the Premier League table with a tally of 26 points in 24 league matches. They have been in majestic form in the league of late and have played well after the appointment of David Moyes when he took charge of the club in November last year. However, the Londoners find themselves just 4 points above the relegation zone with some of their key players sidelined due to injuries in recent times. Andy Carroll will undergo a foot surgery while the attacking pair of Manuel Lanzini and Marko Arnautovic have been ruled out due to hamstring injuries.
There are also serious concerns over the futures of Javier Hernandez, Diafra Sakho and Andre Ayew with the trio being linked with a move away from east London. Hence, the addition of an experienced forward like Smolov could go a long way to boost their chances of avoiding a relegation dogfight going into the second half of the campaign.
It remains to be seen if the Hammers are successful in their pursuit of the Russian attacker, who has scored 10 goals and made 2 assists in 15 appearances for FK Krasnodar this season across all competitions.
