“A player in the mould of Antonio” – West Ham hoping to take advantage of Stoke contract situation: The verdict

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Ham United are interested in Stoke City forward Jacob Brown, Football League World has exclusively revealed.

Brown’s contract expires next summer and Stoke are understood to be keen to tie him down amid growing interest.

FLW understands that West Ham, Brentford and Burnley are keen on capitalising on the 24-year-old’s contract situation.

But would be a good signing for the Hammers? And is he good enough for the Premier League?

Our FLW writers share their thoughts…

Adam Jones

David Moyes needed to address this area in January so the fact the forward position is seemingly being focused on can only be good news for West Ham fans.

With 12 goals and four assists in 42 league appearances this term, it’s not exactly a total that screams Premier League standard despite how respectable that record is.

However, they may be competing in Europe again next term so they need depth and at 24, the forward will only get better so if they can negotiate a cut-price deal for his services, this is a deal that may be worth pursuing.

They shouldn’t devote too much energy into this deal if it’s a tough one to negotiate though.

Ben Wignall

Brown has a decent Championship goal tally this season with 12 to his name, but if I’m a West Ham fan and potentially seeing my team in the Champions League next year then I’d be wanting someone with a bit more experience than Brown.

Make no mistake about it, Brown is at an age where he can improve and he’s now a full Scotland international and he’s scoring goals, but it’s hard to see him