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Modeste and Bakambu hot on West Ham's radar

The two forwards are in talks with West Ham over a potential club-record deal

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According to Sky Sources, West Ham United are in talks with FC Köln (Cologne) over a potential move for 29-year-old striker, Anthony Modeste, in a deal worth £30 million.

Modeste, formerly of Blackburn Rovers, scored 25 goals in 32 games for the Bundesliga side last season.

Villarreal CF v FC Barcelona - La Liga
West Ham have also reportedly bid for Villarreal's Cedric Bakambu
Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

This also corroborates the story reported on earlier today by Tele Football, who stated that a Premier League club (West Ham) had failed in two club-record bids, both of €25 million for Modeste and Villarreal striker, Cedric Bakambu.

Sky Sports' Kaveh Solhekol also reported that West Ham rejected the chance to sign the French striker for as little as £6 million last summer and through his breakout season at Cologne this past year, his asking price has since quintupled.

The French forward was close to agreeing a £30 million deal with Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian last week, however according to a brief statement appearing on Cologne's official website on Wednesday, neither side could reach an agreement for the player.

Cedric Bakambu has also garnered a lot of interest from Premier League clubs in the past few weeks, with Newcastle United seemingly the main frontrunners for the 29-year-old's signature, he’s scored 34 goals in 81 appearances since joining Villarreal from Bursaspsor in 2015.

Modeste could offer West Ham a lot of power, pace, strength and versatility up front, something the club have often lacked in the past few seasons, with some even suggesting the striker could be better than prolific playmakers Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

However, fans will be extremely sceptical over his last spell in England with Blackburn Rovers and at 29-years-old his asking price is incredibly off-putting, especially with Manchester City's Kelechi Iheanacho available for the same price, at only 20-years-old.

Modeste finds himself as the sixth or seventh striker linked to West Ham in the past few days alone, no one really knows which direction the club are going to go in this time round, however I promise you one thing, a long and arduous summer awaits us all.

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