West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui faces a major problem regarding one of his alleged transfer targets this summer.
Last night’s 3-1 defeat to Wolves made it even more obvious to see that Julen Lopetegui needs to make further reinforcements at West Ham United before the transfer window slams shut.
One position where it is painfully clear Lopetegui needs to strengthen is the left wing department – preferably a right footer is desperately required in order to provide more balance down that flank.
The Hammers boss is allegedly planning to sign Reiss Nelson this summer, but there are plenty of alternative options out there.
However, one of those targets may well now be almost impossible to sign.
A new update has emerged regarding the finances involved in bringing the player in question to the London Stadium this summer…
Julen Lopetegui blow as West Ham must pay winger £190k-a-wk
So it seems as though the Hammers boss will struggle to get one signing in particular over the line this summer.
That’s because of the extortionate wages he’s currently earning.
West Ham have been heavily linked with a move to sign Portuguese winger Jota over the past seven months or so, and apparently had even agreed personal terms with him in January.
He remained out in Saudi in the end though, and it seems like that’s where he will be staying.
The Daily Record are claiming that any club that wants to sign the Al-Ittihad star on loan this summer will have to pay his £190k-a-week wages in full.
The 25-year-old has experienced an incredibly tough time out in Saudi Arabia, since joining Al-Ittihad from Celtic for around £25 million back in July of 2023 (Sky Sports).
He was cut from their squad due to the ‘eight foreign player’ rule that was implemented out in Saudi.
In spite of his problems out in Saudi, he has genuine quality, as proven by his record of 28 goals and 26 assists in 83 games for Celtic.
Jota is a real bag of tricks and he would undoubtedly endear himself to the London Stadium faithful instantly with his flair and unbelievably creative ability.
The fact that Al Ittihad are demanding that any club wishing to sign Jota will have to pay his £190k-a-week salary in full is a big blow for West Ham chief Julen Lopetegui.
That’s just too much money for us to be paying one player every single week in my opinion.
The 25-year-old winger would have been a very good signing for us this summer. Oh well, on to the next one it is for the Hammers head coach.
