Moyes given green light for "emphatic" £30m West Ham target, he’s Antonio's heir - opinion

West Ham United are one of several Premier League clubs after Espanyol’s Raul de Tomas this summer.

That’s according to a report from Spain (via The Hard Tackle), which notes the Hammers will face three rivals in the race for the Spanish striker’s signature.

Everton, Aston Villa and Newcastle are said to all be interested, with the Spanish club willing to sell so Diego Martinez can spend.

They are hoping to earn something around €35m (£30m) for his services.

With West Ham often struggling to find the perfect Michail Antonio replacement, perhaps David Moyes could finally have landed on their ideal man in De Tomas.

Standing at just 5-foot-9, the forward makes up for his diminutive figure with sharp movements and incredible passing range. He ranks in the 99th percentile for pass completion per 90 amongst strikers in Europe’s big five leagues over the last 365 days.

The Spaniard is actually the same size as the bulky Jamaican, but the latter is far more muscular which lends to his ability to battle with centre-backs.

Not only this, but managing his 34 LaLiga appearances last season would already be an improvement on the often-injured Antonio. He managed a further 37 appearances in the 2020/21 campaign and 32 in all competitions in the 2019/20 season.

De Tomas managed 17 goals across these fixtures, making for a fine return for the 27-year-old. His incredible goalscoring led to James Dodd labelling him “emphatic” – while the journalist also noted his “fantastic movement”.

With all the creative players that would surround him at the London Stadium, this movement would be very important and could explain Moyes’ interest in the striker.

His fine performances deservedly led to the best average SofaScore rating amongst his