Chelsea Transfer News: Blues To Hijack West Ham's Wilfried Bony Bid?
The Sun. The Hammers have set their sights on the Ivorian recently, and thought they were close to agreeing a record-breaking deal to bring the Vitesse Arnhem striker to Upton Park in the summer. Since being confirmed as the anchor tenants at the Olympic Stadium last week, West Ham have been tipped to land world class players and Co-chairman David Sullivan was hoping to do just that when he met with one of the player's agents, Francis Kacou on Monday this week. But reining European Champions Chelsea are also interested, and view the free-scoring forward as the ideal replacement for misfiring Fernando Torres at Stamford Bridge. Bony has netted 26 goals in 24 appearances for Arnhem this season and has inspired them to a surprise title push in the Eredivisie, while comparisons have been drawn with former Stamford Bridge favourite and fellow countryman Didier Drogba. He also scored in the Ivory Coast's 3-0 win over Gambia at the weekend, as he continues to attract admirers. His current deal with Vitesse expires in 2015 but the player is reported to be "desperate" for a move to the Premier League, with Chelsea now moving into pole position to land his signature. The Blues have a good relationship with the Dutch club - seven of Chelsea's youngsters have gone there on loan in the past two seasons. Vitesse are said to be "resigned" in letting their star striker go in the summer.