West Ham United are progressing in talks to sign FC Metz forward Idrissa Gueye, according to a report from Foot Mercato. 

The Hammers are said to be chasing the 18-year-old Frenchman that had an outstanding breakthrough season for Metz in Ligue 2 last season. The striker netted 5 goals and provided 1 assist in 20 matches last season, these number might not sound excellent, but it was his raw talent that caught the eye and the reason he’s been linked with a big move this summer.

Foot Mercato understands that Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund are in the race to sign the forward, as are another unnamed Premier League side. West Ham are desperate to win the race to sign Gueye and have entered into talks with Metz in order to conclude a deal.

Metz are reportedly holding out for a fee of around £13m, which isn’t really that much for a young player with bags of potential these days. However, West Ham are low on cash this summer, and there are positions we need to sign that take priority over a striker, especially now we’ve signed Callum Wilson.

We need two midfielders and a goalkeeper which pretty much ruled out us paying a further £13m for a striker, unless of course we sell a few players between now and the end of the window.

If he does end up signing, Hammers fans would be hoping he has a similar impact to our last signing from Metz, Diafra Sakho. But they would also hope he has a much better attitude than the former Senegal striker.