Salomon Rondon is a wanted man by clubs other than just West Ham this summer as Manuel Pellegrini looks to beef up his strikeforce for 2019/20.
The Venezuelan striker proved to be a big hit with Newcastle United last season, scoring 12 goals while on loan there from West Brom as Rafa Benitez steered the Toon to a comfortable 13th place finish in the Premier League.
Rondon's form has seen the Hammers and Wolverhampton Wanderers, as well as Newcastle, look to sign him permanently from the Baggies after they failed to reach the Premier League this season, losing to Aston Villa in the Championship play-offs.
The Hammers are keen on the striker (and have been before) after seeing a move for their top transfer target Maxi Gomez fall off the wagon as he will cost too much cash. Rondon has a £16.5m release clause in his contract with West Brom and is a much more affordable option for the Hammers.
Rondon hit 12 goals last season to finish as Newcastle's second top scorer, just one behind Ayoze Perez who enjoyed a fine end to the campaign in the north east.
With the Hammers set to overhaul their striker department this summer, Marko Arnautovic will need some help in the final third of the pitch and Rondon, along with Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, have been identified as two players who could possibly fill that gap.
The 29-year-old Rondon has previously spoken out about his future and a lot of it hinged on West Brom's potential promotion to the top flight and what Newcastle did with Benitez, who has yet to pen a new contract on Tyneside.
Speaking to the Independent on May 5 a week before the season ended, Rondon said: "I am really happy here [in Newcastle]. My family is happy. But it is not down to me. We don’t know what will happen with Rafa as well so we have to wait.
"That would be a shame for my family because they are settled here. But this is football, sometimes it happens, sometimes you have to decide. It is out of my hands and I will have to wait.
"And after that, I have to wait. I have to see if Rafa stays. There are many things – Newcastle, West Brom, Rafa, me. The only thing I can say is that I have to wait."
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