Exclusive: West Ham eye wonderkid striker mentored by Miroslav Klose, teenager could cost £18m
10/31/2024 02:15 PM
West Ham United are eyeing up Greek wonderkid Stefanos Tzimas but the Premier League outfit are likely to face competition from Spain and France for the PAOK striker.
- Exclusive from Graeme Bailey
Second-tier German outfit FC Nurnburg appear to be developing quite a reputation as a place to be for talented teenage centre-forwards.
Can Uzun earned himself a move to Eintracht Frankfurt after plundering 19 goals during a breakout 2023/24 season. Nurnburg then replaced one teenager with another, and Stefanos Tzimas is now threatening to at least equal Uzun’s tally during what is shaping up to be a prolific loan spell at the Max Morlock Stadium.
Tzimas joined Nurnburg on loan from PAOK in his homeland during the summer.
And the Greece Under 21 international has been so brutal in his finishing so far that, sources tell TBR, West Ham United have been alerted to his considerable potential.
West Ham United eye Nurnburg striker Stefanos Tzimas
TBR understands that The Hammers are looking to enhance their centre-forward options in 2025.
As Niklas Fullkrug continues to struggle at West Ham after arriving from Borussia Dortmund – the German has since picked up an injury – Julen Lopetegui has been forced to rely upon the ageing limbs of a 34-year-old Michail Antonio.
The veteran has started eight out of nine Premier League matches. What’s more, West Ham are open to letting Danny Ings go after another few months spent warming the bench.
Tzimas, should he arrive at the London Stadium, is unlikely to be viewed as a player capable of coming straight into the starting XI and making an impact.
West Ham are chasing more experienced options including Yuri Alberto; the in-form Corinthians hitman who saw a £14 million bid by The Hammers rejected during the summer of 2023. One-time Brazil international Alberto nearly joined Southampton, also, in the off-season.
But, with five goals in just three Bundesliga.2 starts in Nurnburg colours, Tzimas is clearly a number nine of huge promise. All five have come in his last four appearances, meanwhile, either side of a two-game suspension.
“Tzimas is one of the greatest talents in Greek football,” Sueddeutsche Zeitung writes of a player who also has admirers in France and Spain
PAOK are likely to demand £18m from The Hammers
Officially the youngest goalscorer in PAOK’s history, there is a £15 million purchase clause in his Nurnburg contract, per BILD. A fee that one of the sleeping giants of Germany feel powerless to part with, even if they were to secure a return to the Bundesliga this season.
Tzimas is certainly benefiting for the time being, meanwhile, for working under a truly iconic goal-poacher in German legend Miroslav Klose.
“He can do even more with the ball,” says Klose, the top all-time goalscorer in World Cup history. “He is fit now, he gets minutes, he scores goals.”
West Ham, meanwhile, saw their brittle confidence boosted by a big, if controversial, win over Manchester United last weekend.
Loeptegui’s team travel to surprise packages Nottingham Forest on Saturday but they will once again be without Fullkrug as the summer signing continues to be afflicted by a calf problem.
“At the start, we thought it was not an important injury. But he had a complication,” Lopetegui a fortnight ago, West Ham yet to put a return date on Fullkrug.
“We are waiting for him to recover. We were thinking he would be out for two weeks maximum. It's now been a month and a half [two months since Lopetegui’s comments].
“I prefer not to say [when Fullkrug will return]. Let's see.”
