West Ham United may have a decision to make regarding Andriy Yarmolenko before the end of his contract due to the interest of another club, according to reports.
Yarmolenko has been a West Ham player since 2018, when he joined them from Borussia Dortmund. He has never really been a regular starter week in, week out, though. In his first season with West Ham he only made 10 appearances due to injury.
The two seasons that followed brought him 23 and 21 appearances respectively. So far this term, he has played 12 times across all competitions.
Despite finding some more space, though, his future remains in doubt. Yarmolenko, 32, is out of contract at the end of the season.
West Ham will have to decide whether they want to keep him for a longer duration or not. In fact, a decision may have to arrive ahead of schedule.
According to Turkish source Fanatik (via Sport Witness), Trabzonspor have identified the Ukraine international as a gettable target for January.
Trabzonspor signed former Arsenal forward Gervinho on a free transfer in the summer. However, he is currently out with a serious injury. Therefore, they need to find further cover.
Their priorities are Cristian Tello or Edin Visca. But it is now believed they have added Yarmolenko to the list.
Aware of his contract situation, they feel they could snap him up for a bargain price in January. It is not clear how much that may be, but it would give West Ham something to think about.
They originally spent £18m to sign him, so it may be beneficial to recoup whatever they can get rather than nothing at all.
That said, given their lack of depth in attack, it would be a risk to let one of their forwards go.
Trabzonspor, for their part, are aware that there are a number of other European clubs interested in taking Yarmolenko if he leaves the London Stadium.
For now, he remains at the disposal of David Moyes, who is aiming to lead West Ham to a second consecutive European qualification having started the season well.
Good dilemma prevents West Ham striker signing
It will be important for West Ham to replenish their attack in January if they are to maintain their current form.
At present, their only recognised centre-forward is Michail Antonio. Given his injury history, it would be beneficial for them to find backup.
But a recent report revealed there is a reason why they have struggled to do so.
West Ham news has been dominated by links with strikers ever since they sold Sebastien Haller to Ajax in January. Haller never justified his club-record price tag during his time with West Ham. However, he has been in much better form for Ajax since the transfer.
It may have left a hint of regret for West Ham, who are still yet to sign a replacement. They went through the rest of the winter window and the entire summer without managing to secure a striker signing.
According to the Daily Mail, West Ham held talks with seven different strikers during the summer transfer window. Obviously, though, none of them got over the line.
The Mail now predicts West Ham may face a battle to sign anyone in the upcoming January transfer window either.
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The form of Antonio up front has been cited as the key reason why top targets are reluctant to join. So far this term, the 31-year-old has seven goals from 13 games between the Premier League and Europa League. He has also provided four assists.
With that in mind, Antonio is seen as “undroppable”, as per the Mail – even if a new man was to come in.
The report thus claims that striker targets are being put off by Antonio’s fine form as they doubt how much gametime they would get if they joined.
READ MORE: January transfer edges closer as West Ham ‘make contact’ with Barcelona man
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Samuel Bannister
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