West Ham United have been linked with a move for James McAtee from Nottingham Forest. 

According to Mail Sport, James McAtee is an ambitious target for West Ham this summer, with Nuno’s side already preparing their move for the player he signed at Nottingham Forest.

The New Director of Player Recruitment at West Ham, Nils Koppen is understood to be a long-term admirer of James McAtee and has placed the 23-year-old at the top of West Ham’s midfield shortlist.

Not only are both Nuno Espirito Santo and Nils Koppen huge fans of the 23-year-old attacking midfielder, but we also know the club has previously shown interest in the England U21 international.

The Hammers were in for McAtee last summer; however, Forest paid up the £25 million, and the temptation of European football meant he headed for the Midlands.

McAtee would be a brilliant signing for West Ham United this summer; it would be similar to signing Kevin Nolan when we were last relegated. Obviously, Nolan was older, a lot more proven in the Premier League, and was more of a leader. But in terms of quality of player, position, and impact they would have on the pitch, it would be very similar.

McAtee is good enough for the Premier League, so having him in the Championship as part of our fight back to the Premier League at the first time of asking would be massive.

We don’t necessarily need to replace Fernandes like-for-like as a starter; we need to bring in a proper attacking midfielder to replace him in the starting lineup, and McAtee could well be that.

With rumours of us offering around £18 million for Famalicão attacking midfielder Gustavo Sá, if we were able to get James McAtee for a similar price, I think I’d prefer us to move for the Englishman.

Sá is probably a player with more potential. He is almost two years younger than McAtee, and would be a more exciting signing.

However, McAtee is more of a guaranteed success; he’s proven he can do it in the Championship and the Premier League to an extent before, and everyone at the club would likely agree he’d be a good signing. It would just make sense.

Obviously it’s an optimistic target, but if we could get an offer accepted for £20 million or less and convince him to drop down to the Championship for our project, it really is a no-brainer.

James McAtee would be the perfect signing for West Ham this summer.