West Ham United sent an official to Porto’s Champions League play-off match on Wednesday night according to the list released by A Bola (and quoted by Sport Witness). They have been linked with moves for players all summer, but quite what the official was doing in Porto remains a mystery.
In recent times, The Hammers have been looking at the unwanted striker Vincent Aboubakar, who has fallen down the pecking order at the Estadio do Dragao. Porto are waiting for a potential buyer to come in for him, and left him out of their Champions League squad for the ongoing play-off tie against Roma, which currently stands at 1-1 ahead of the leg in Italy.
West Ham have been linked with a number of players on show on Wednesday night, including former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko and Porto’s Yacine Brahimi, suggesting that the official may have been there to see any of them. Alternatively, the suggestion is that they may have been on the official list not to scout someone playing but to hold discussions about signing Aboubakar.
A striker has been the object of West Ham’s transfer dealings all summer, and were recently hit by the four-month injury to Andre Ayew in the first half of his league debut against Chelsea. Jonathan Calleri has joined on loan from Deportivo Maldonado, but Slaven Bilic still wants another striker as The Hammers look to kick on from last season.
Aboubakar has been at Porto for two years, and scored 13 in 28 last year as he they finished third in the Portuguese top divison. However he has fallen out of favour under Nuno Santo, and the club are ready to let him go. He could depart by the end of the summer.
