da supremo： After winning their Europa Conference League at the end of last season, there was an expectation and hope that West Ham United would kick on and fight their way up the Premier League table this year.
da bet esporte： While the Hammers haven't been particularly poor in 2023/24, they also haven't been notably impressive either, in the league, that is.
David Moyes' men have picked up where they left off on the continent, and with one game left of the Europa League group stage, the Irons find themselves at the top of group A, level on points with SC Freiburg.
West Ham "leading the way" to sign striker who Shearer thinks is "clinical"
Steidten is chasing a new forward.
ByEmilio Galantini
One of the star performers for the Eastenders' has been former Ajax player Mohammed Kudus, and it looks as if the club are hoping to repeat that success as they have been linked to another attacker tearing it up in the Eredivisie, Steven Bergwijn.
West Ham United transfer news – Steven Bergwijn
According to the Dutch website AjaxShowTime, former Tottenham Hotspur winger Bergwijn has caught the attention of several clubs in world football, including West Ham United.
The 26-year-old joined the Dutch giants from Spurs in the summer of 2022 for a fee in the region of £26m and signed a five-year deal with the Amsterdam outfit.
Since then, he has been in impressive form and became the side's captain in August of this year, underlining how far he has come from his disappointing spell in north London.
While this shows that there is a brilliant player there, it also means that the Hammers will have to pay a premium to bring him back to England, with De Telegraff journalist Valentijn Driessen suggesting (via SportWitness) that it would take an offer in the region of €40m – about £34m – to get Ajax to sell their star winger.
While that is a sizeable investment, with how well former Ajax attacker Kudus has adapted to life in the Premier League, West Ham may see this as value for money.
Steven Bergwijn could replicate Mohammed Kudus' success at the London Stadium
While naysayers might use Bergwijn's unimpressive Tottenham record – aside from that game – as a reason why the Irons' should not pursue this deal, there is arguably more evidence from his time in the Netherlands that he would be a smart signing, especially when his record is compared to Kudus'.
Looking at the pair's numbers from the last full Eredivisie season they played – 2022/23 – it is hard not to be excited at the prospect of seeing the "special" Bergwijn, dubbed by Antonio Conte, back in the Premier League.
The "top player", as lauded by former Spurs number one Paul Robinson, stands up remarkably well against the Irons' latest fan favourite and actually comes out on top in more metrics than not.
Bergwijn
Kudus
0.59
0.73
5.58
3.27
5.46
3.32
1.38
1.36
48.8 (86%)
33.0 (58.5%)
4.69
3.41
4.57
1.50
1.58
3.22
In fact, the only areas in which the "electric" Ghanaian, as described by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, beats his former teammate are Non-penalty expected goals and assists and successful take-ons.
When it comes down to it, there will always be an element of doubt over Bergwijn's ability following his uninspiring time in N17. However, the fact that he was more impressive than Kudus when the pair played together should encourage the Conference League champions that this is a player worth pursuing.