West Ham are in a 'sticky situation' as £135m verdict issued - Agbonlahor

By Gabriel Agbonlahor

10th Aug, 2023 | 6:00am

West Ham paying £15m more than they should to complete Ward-Prowse signing - Agbonlahor

Gabby Agbonlahor has claimed West Ham face paying over the odds for all of their summer targets as clubs know they have big money in the bank.

The former Aston Villa striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, claimed the Irons are in a “sticky situation” ahead of the new season.

West Ham have sold Declan Rice, Gianluca Scamacca, Nikola Vlasic and Arthur Masuaku for a combined reported fee of almost £135million this summer.

However, the Irons have not yet made a signing in the window with the start of the 2023-24 campaign just days away.

Football Insider revealed on Tuesday (8 August) that West Ham are now in advanced talks with Man United over signing defender Harry Maguire for a fee of almost £40million.

David Moyes’ side are also close to signing James Ward-Prowse from Southampton and are also trying to lure Scott McTominay from United.

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The Europa Conference League winners face Bournemouth in their first game of the new season on Saturday (12 August).

He told Football Insider: “West Ham are in a really weird situation now.

“They’re selling players like Rice and Scamacca, but everyone knows what they’ve got in the bank.

“Everyone knows they’ve got the dough. Ward-Prowse, he’s worth £25million but they could end up paying £40million.

“It is going to be the same with a lot of their other targets – McTominay, Maguire, etc.

“This is a huge problem they’re going to have in the last three weeks of the window.”

In other news, West Ham coach agrees Wolves job.