West Ham are going to challenge Chelsea for the signature of Barcelona man Alex Song and are willing to offer him £70,000 a week wages to do so, reports the Daily Express.
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The 27-year-old impressed on loan with the Hammers last season, making 31 appearances at the base of their midfield. This is actually more than the 25 he has made for Barca since joining in 2012. As the Cameroon international also qualifies as home grown he is extra enticing to teams with fewer English players, such as the Blues.
With John Obi Mikel also leaving Stamford Bridge according to the Daily Express, they will likely up their efforts to sign the midfielder. £5 million should be enough to prise him away from the Camp Nou.
However, the East London outfit are hoping to keep hold of the centre-mid by offering him high wages. With a move to the Olympic stadium coming up, they will be wanting to keep their best performers both to draw crowds and make sure they stay in the division.
It will be difficult to fight off the Premier League champions though. Manager Jose Mourinho can offer the former Arsenal star Champions League football and trophies at Stamford Bridge, neither of which are likely to come soon for Slaven Bilic at West Ham in the near future despite their soon to be bigger ground .