West Ham United are said to be pursuing a deal for Villarreal star Arnaut Danjuma this summer.
Fabrizio Romano is reporting that the Hammers are progressing in talks over a £38.7million deal, with Villarreal set to almost double their money in just one year.
Crucially, it is reported that personal terms have not been discussed yet, so we don’t know what Danjuma is thinking.
But from this point, it would be a baffling move for the winger, who is an ambitious character.
Of course, there are financial benefits to making the move to the Premier League, but West Ham would surely be a sideways step, at best.
Villarreal have far outperformed the Hammers across many years, winning the Europa League and reaching the Champions League semi-finals in the last two years.
The Yellow Submarine have disappointed a little domestically in the last two years, but they have still finished in the top seven in both of the last two seasons.
Villarreal have a far bigger upside in Europe and domestically, with Unai Emery’s men looking more likely to make a run for the top four.
Arguably, West Ham do offer a platform more relevant to Danjuma in that he appears to be aiming for a Premier League top four move at some point, something we thought he may get this summer amid links with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United.
MORE: West Ham progressing in Danjuma talks
But a move this summer will surely make one of those bigger moves even more unlikely, due to the financial aspects at play.
Danjuma has caught the attention of those bigger clubs with his form at Villarreal, and one of those big moves is a matter of time on his current path.
And that reason, above all, makes a sideways – or perhaps even backwards – move to West Ham at this point in his career all the more baffling.