Could West Ham be interested in Porto’s wantaway striker Vincent Aboubakar?

Another day, another striker link.

Brace The Hammer have been made aware of West Ham United’s potential interest in FC Porto’s Cameroon international striker Vincent Aboubakar. Aboubakar, who starred for his national team at AFCON back in January, has been deemed surplus to requirements at the Portuguese club, as he spent all of last year on loan with Turkish side Beşiktaş.

Perhaps Slaven Bilic was impressed with Aboubakar’s time in Turkey or maybe his links with his former club have tipped him off to the striker’s quality. Either way, the striker had an impressive campaign with the Istanbul club last season, scoring 19 times in 38 total appearances for Beşiktaş. And while this wouldn’t be the first time that Bilić has raided or the Hammers have scouted his old club for a player, one can only hope that this transfer works out more than the last, with Gokhan Torë having a miserable spell at the East London club before getting injured and being told to “plea for his return.”

Aboubakar started his European career at French side Valenciennes FC in 2010 after being snatched up from Cameroon side Coton Sport FC de Garoua. However, his season at Ligue 1’s FC Lorient in 2013-14, where he scored an impressive 16 goals in 36 appearances put his name on the map, and landed him a transfer to Portuguese giants Porto for the 2014-15 season.

However, he was sent out on loan last season, and it appears that Porto no longer have him in their long term plans. After a successful AFCON 2017 and a shining goal-scoring record in Turkey, it appears that he is headed for England, with a number of clubs, including Wolverhampton and Newcastle United both tipped to be looking at bringing him in. After a number of links to other clubs, it is not surprising that West Ham would be interested in him, but given the competition, West Ham would be the clear choice for the player.