West Ham United are reportedly on the verge of submitting a £14 million bid for West Bromwich Albion striker Salomon Rondon.
Rondon spent last season on loan in the Premier League with Newcastle United, grabbing 12 goals and seven assists, and looks likely to return to the top flight with the Hammers understood to be set to make a fresh offer.
According to Football Insider, the East London club have been buoyed by Wolverhampton Wanderers pulling out of the race for the Venezuelan and are about to make a new £14 million offer after seeing their first bid rejected.
A permanent move to St James' Park looked like it could be on the cards for Rondon after he won the Player of the Season award at Newcastle last season.
But following the departure of manager Rafa Benitez that now looks uncertain and it appears West Ham are looking to capitalise and offer the 29-year-old a different route back into the Premier League.
The six-foot-two striker still has a year left on his contract at West Brom but seems likely to leave this summer after the Baggies missed out on promotion from the Championship.
Rondon has a £16.5 million release clause but the club may be willing to accept a bid lower than that now that West Ham appear to be the only team in the running.
Verdict
This would be a good move for West Ham and Rondon, but West Brom should be looking to get the full £16.5 million for the forward.
He is clearly a quality finisher who needs to be playing in the Premier League and West Ham should feel he can exceed his tally from last season in their team.
With the money some players are going for in the current market, the Baggies should be looking to hold out for the release clause to give Slaven Bilic more money to reinvest in the squad.
However, the clock is ticking and with the season opener against Nottingham Forest just 31 days away, the club need to be smart about how long they hold out for.
There is no need to drag the saga out all summer for the sake of £2.5 million, especially if they're going to run out of time to spend it.