You don’t often see Premier League clubs directly engaging in transfer speculation.
Managers bat away questions about potential transfers and clubs don’t comment until a deal has been completed.
However, West Ham United appear to be trying a different approach and are keeping their fans in touch with their transfer targets.
In an article written by “the Insider“ on the club’s official website, it reads:
“A bid of £20m – a figure close to the Club’s all-time transfer record – was submitted for a player from Scotland.
Meanwhile, an £8m bid was made for a player who currently plies his trade in the Championship, and a £6m bid for a current Premier League player.”
The £6m bid for a “current Premier League player” is almost certainly Jermain Defoe. Sunderland reportedly rejected an offer from the London club for the 34-year-old on Thursday.
Sky sources: Sunderland reject £6million bid from West Ham for striker Jermain Defoe.
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 4, 2017
West Ham have given up on signing Jermain Defoe. Sunderland have told them he's not for sale. #WHUFC will move on to their other targets
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) January 6, 2017
The “Championship player” West Ham bid for appears to be Scott Hogan.
The 24-year-old, who is qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland, has been in brilliant form this season, scoring 14 goals in 25 games for Brentford.
Once again though, West Ham’s search for a striker has been foiled.
BREAKING: Sky sources: Brentford reject £10m bid from West Ham for striker Scott Hogan: https://t.co/VRjmsNjFB3 #SSNHQ
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 4, 2017
The “player from Scotland” that “the Insider” claims West Ham bid for is, almost certainly, Moussa Dembele.
The Celtic striker joined the club from Fulham last summer for a compensation fee of £500,000, and has been in stunning form for the Scottish champions.
Dembele has 19 goals in 36 games already this season, and has been linked with a number of clubs, such as Liverpool and Manchester United, in recent months.
Despite West Ham’s website claiming they bid for a “player from Scotland”, a Celtic source told the Press Association that they have yet to receive any bids from the Premier League side.
However, The Daily Mail claim that Celtic have told West Ham to increase their bid to £30m if they want to land Dembele in this window.
Celtic manager Rodgers conceded last month that there will come a time when the club will be force to sell Dembele, but that time hasn’t come yet.
“No, I don’t think it will be January,” Rodgers told talkSPORT.
“At Celtic, you know how it is. We know how it is. If we get a really talented player there’s probably a cycle of a couple of years with them.
“You look at [Victor] Wanyama, Virgil van Dijk, Ki [Sung-yueng]. They come up here and it’s a great platform for them to demonstrate their qualities but then the likelihood is they get a better offer, financially, and they move down south.
“With Moussa, I think that was always going to be the case.”
