Martin Braithwaite joined Barcelona last winter (Getty Images)
According to Spanish news outlet Sport (h/t The Sun), West Ham United are interested in signing Barcelona forward Martin Braithwaite as the Spanish club look to sell him in the summer.
Martin Braithwaite, 28, joined Barcelona in a shock £15million deal from Leganes in February after the La Liga club received special permission to buy a forward outside of the transfer window, following a serious injury sustained by Ousmane Dembele (h/t BBC). They signed him on a four-and-a-half-year contract.
The Dane has played three times for Barcelona so far, but is yet to find the back of the net. However, the Spanish giants are struggling with financial problems and are ready to move on Braithwaite just a few months after signing him from Leganes, with Everton, Torino and Sassuolo also keen on his services, the report adds. (h/t The Sun)
As far as West Ham are concerned, they are currently in all sorts of troubles as they are 16th in the league standings. A possibility of getting relegated to the Championship looks real. Before the Premier League season was suspended, the Hammers had won only once in their last five league games.
One of the problems West Ham have faced is the lack of goals. They have scored only 35 goals in 29 league games. Summer signing Sebastien Haller has been poor in front of goal, scoring just 7 in 27 games. Albian Ajeti was signed last summer as a backup for Haller but the Swiss international has failed to make any sort of impact in the eight games he has played.
Wide players like Felipe Anderson, Michail Antonio and Andriy Yarmolenko have failed to produce the goods at the London Stadium, with Anderson particularly disappointing after a fine debut campaign last year.
With a lack of quality and competition in the squad, their performance has been below par and the manager should look to bring in reinforcements to the attacking unit this summer. Having said that, however, the Hammers must stay away from Barcelona striker Martin Braithwaite.
Starting his career with FB Esbjerg, Braithwaite scored 19 goals in 97 appearances for the Danish club. He moved to France to join Toulouse in 2013. He spent four seasons with Toulouse, racking up 40 goals in 149 appearances. In 2017, Middlesbrough signed the 28-year-old but he failed to live up to the expectations at the Riverside Stadium and was loaned out to Bordeaux in January 2018.
Braithwaite scored four times in 14 games on loan at Bordeaux before returning to Middlesbrough for the 2018/19 season. However, while Braithwaite did start the season at Middlesbrough, he was loaned out again, this time to Spanish side Leganes in the 2019 January transfer window. He finished the campaign with four goals in 19 league appearances for Leganes.
As a result, Leganes signed him permanently from Middlesbrough, for whom Braithwaite only managed nine goals in 40 appearances. At Leganes, Braithwaite was enjoying a good season before Barcelona signed him last month.
Going by his career, it is clear that the Denmark international has never been a prolific goalscorer. He has netted 85 goals in 351 appearances in his club career, which are underwhelming numbers. West Ham are in desperate need of a prolific goalscorer to aid Haller upfront next season, and Braithwaite is simply not that player.
West Ham are in need of a forward who would be able to revitalize their fortunes. And Braithwaite, given his well-documented struggles in England with Middlesbrough, isn’t the right man for the job. Hence, they must avoid signing the 28-year-old from Barcelona this summer.
