Hammers told striker price – report

West Ham will have to pay over £25m to sign Hugo Ekitike from Reims in this transfer window.

Sky Sports reports that the French club will not allow the Hammers target to leave for less than that fee, while he has previously been linked with a potential move to Newcastle.

Sky Sports also claims that the Hammers and Reims are in talks over a deal for the 19-year-old to move to east London before the transfer deadline.

The fee demand is almost certainly true, as Reims’ president has made that clear.

Jean-Pierre Caillot previously claimed that Newcastle made a bid worth £29.1m but that the deal involved a variety of bonuses and clauses, including potentially winning the Champions League.

He then revealed that the initial fee would have to come to £24.9m plus £8.3m in bonuses that could easily be reached, totalling £33.2m.

Ekitike has been called up by the France U19 team and has scored a total of eight goals in 21 games for Reims.

This deal would be hugely expensive for a player who just isn’t proven at the highest level.