Crystal Palace and West Ham are set to do battle for Dwight McNeil this summer, as they look to bolster their attacking options by raiding relegated Burnley for the 22-year-old forward.
McNeil had a season to forget last time out, contributing just a sole assist as he could not prevent the Clarets from being relegated from the top-flight of English football come the final day.
The season before, however, the Englishman produced 7 goal contributions, and his 134 Premier League appearances demonstrate that he can certainly cut it at the top level even at just 22.
For both the Hammers and Patrick Vieira, the winger is likely to represent a back-up and rotation option, with both Palace and West Ham well stocked in the wide areas at present.
Should they wish to add McNeil to their ranks, they are likely to have to find a fee around £15m, which based on his experience and age doesn’t seem overly audacious. For their part, Burnley need to continue raising funds despite the sale of Nathan Collins to Wolves earlier in the summer.
West Ham dealt double blow
Despite being interested in McNeil, the transfer window is not going exactly to plan for David Moyes this summer, as the Irons look set to be beaten to the signing of Jesse Lingard by Nottingham Forest, who are more willing to match his £180k per week wages demands than his former loan side.
Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel has allegedly intervened in their potential move for Armando Broja and is keen to keep the Albanian and Stamford Bridge this season, which could end their pursuit of the young talent.
Worse still, new £30m defender Nayef Aguerd was forced off just minutes into his Hammers debut with an ankle injury, with David Moyes revealing that he did not know the severity of the issue.
“We’ve already had Nayef x-rayed and there’s no break in his ankle, which is good news. It might be some ligaments, or he’s twisted his ankle. It blew up immediately so we have to hope it’s not a problem”, he told the media following the match, which the Hammers lost 3-1.
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