West Ham United are lining up a £25m bid for Watford winger Ismaila Sarr, according to the latest print edition of The Mirror (12/06, page 72, as cited by Hammers News).

It is understood that the Irons are looking to bolster their attacking options this summer and thus Sarr could potentially fit the bill.

Watford are facing an uphill battle to keep the Senegal international at Vicarage Road following their relegation to the Championship.

Signed by Watford for a fee believed to be in the region of £40m in 2019, Sarr has become a key player for the club in recent seasons.

The 24-year-old helped the Hornets secure promotion to the top-flight in the 2020/21 season by scoring 13 goals and providing 10 assists in 39 league appearances for the club.

Although Sarr was unable to prevent his side from being relegated earlier this year, he did produce some encouraging performances in the top-flight.

In the 22 league games that he participated in during the previous term, the winger provided a respectable total of seven direct goal contributions.

With Sarr's current deal at Watford set to run until 2024, it will be interesting to see whether they opt to accept a bid from West Ham if David Moyes' side opt to step up this particular pursuit.

The Verdict

If Sarr is seeking a departure from Vicarage Road, Watford ought to consider trying to offload him as soon as possible as they will not want a transfer saga to rumble on throughout the summer.

By selling the winger for a significant amount of money, the Hornets could potentially provide their new head coach Rob Edwards with some funds to utilise in the current transfer window.

In order to prepare themselves for the possibility of Sarr moving on to pastures new, Watford ought to draft up a list of replacements for the winger.

Providing that the Hornets are able to nail their recruitment, there is no reason why they cannot go on to achieve a relative amount of success in the absence of Sarr later this year.