West Ham are now favourites to sign Nigerian forward Henry Onyekuru.

  • Onyekuru was reportedly close to joining Arsenal
  • However, new reports claim Onyekuru is set to join West Ham

Sky Sports are reporting that West Ham have emerged as favourites to sign the Nigerian despite earlier reports claiming he was joining Arsenal.

It’s believed the forward will fly to England next week for talks with interested clubs. Arsenal, Swansea, West Ham and several other Premier League side are interested in Onyekuru, who scored 24 times last season for newly promoted Belgian outfit KAS Eupen.

The 19-year-old is a huge Arsenal fan and recently gave an interview saying how pleased he was by Arsenal’s interest. He even admitted that he talked with Alex Iwobi about the club.

Earlier reports stated that Arsenal had agreed a £6.8m fee for Onyekuru. However, Sky Sports now claim that the player has a £7.85m release clause just for English clubs, and a £6.8m clause for non-English clubs.

West Ham have been desperate to bolster their strikeforce for some time and could promise more first-team football than Arsenal to Onyekuru. The Gunners have Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck as competition which would likely result in the teenager being on the fringes.