Celta Vigo do not want to sell star striker Maxi Gomez to West Ham United, meaning the Londoners will have to pay the Uruguayan's £43.3m release clause or walk away from the deal.
West Ham have come around to the idea of selling wantaway striker Marko Arnautovic this month having previously released a statement insisting that the player would remain a Hammer.
Shanghai SIPG have offered £35m for the Austrian but West Ham want closer to £45m and are now ready to cut Arnautovic loose. Their problem lies in replacing him, with Celta unwilling to negotiate over Gomez this month due to a fear of relegation from La Liga.
The Galicians are just a single point above the drop zone after a tough first half of the season and fear an angry reaction from their fans if they sell one of their biggest stars. Only four players in La Liga have more goals than Gomez this season and relegation would be very costly for a Celta side that have already experienced the second tier once this decade.
West Ham's task is made more difficult by Javier Hernandez's desire to join Valencia and Lucas Perez being out of favour with boss Manuel Pellegrini. Valencia have an agreement with Hernandez and are desperate for him to join but West Ham don't want to allow him out on loan, even with an option to buy, when they are already thin in attack.
The Hammers will struggle to bring in two attackers by the end of the window and had enquired about Michy Batshuayi, but with Arnautovic and Hernandez both keen to leave it is a difficult situation for Pellegrini and sporting director Mario Husillos to balance.
Selling Arnautovic to China would represent a huge return on their investment but the club would owe Stoke City a percentage of any fee over £20m.
