Tammy Abraham has rejected the chance to join West Ham United as he holds out for a move to AC Milan, according to Corriere Della Sera.
On page nine of the Italian publication’s 1 August edition, Gianluca Piacentini reported that Abraham has swerved the advances of the Hammers to move across Serie A to the Rossoneri, managed by his former Roma boss Paulo Fonseca.
It is also understood Everton were another club to offer Abraham a route back to the Premier League [Sky Sports Italy, 30 July], but the 26-year-old has his heart set on San Siro.
Should Abraham join Milan, he would be reunited with former Chelsea teammate Fikayo Tomori, with whom he is close as they broke through together under Frank Lampard.
It’s fair to say Tim Steidten has his eggs in several baskets surrounding West Ham’s striker hunt.
With just Michail Antonio, 34, and Danny Ings, 32, as Julen Lopetegui’s senior centre-forwards and with the duo out of contract next summer, a number nine is a matter of priority at the London Stadium.
Jarrod Bowen has operated further forward to strong success, but the Hammers want to maximise his creativity and allow the goalscoring burden to be taken off the England international, who netted 16 times in the league last term.
Abraham is one of many targets for the club’s technical director, with Alexander Sorloth set for Atletico Madrid [Fabrizio Romano, 31 July] and an opening bid of £15m turned down by Borussia Dortmund for Niclas Fullkrug [Ben Jacobs, 31 July].
Milan themselves were initially interested in Fullkrug, but the German international still looks set for claret and blue and remains the likeliest striker to complete a move to West Ham.
In other West Ham news, the club are a matter of paperwork away from signing Crysencio Summerville.
