Albion rival West Ham for Shane Long
Tuesday 26th July 2011, 1:00PM BST.
Albion today faced a new challenge in their hunt for Shane Long after West Ham lodged a bid with Reading.
The Hammers have made an offer reportedly worth up to £8million for the Republic of Ireland international, who is one of the Baggies’ top transfer targets.
And that bid, thought to be worth £5million initially with £3million in add-ons, will test Albion’s determination to capture the 24-year-old striker, as they would need to lodge a club-record bid to match the East London club.
The Baggies have been monitoring Long for several months and news earlier this week that Reading were willing to lower their asking price for the forward increased hopes that Hawthorns officials could strike a deal to sign him.
But West Ham’s move leaves Albion, whose record transfer fee remains the £4.7million they shelled out for Borja Valero in 2008, facing a major decision.
The Baggies will either need to match the Hammers or stick to their own valuation of Long and turn their attentions elsewhere.
To read our stories in full, log in to the premium 24 website.
UK Sport
Latest Blog — A week is a long time in football
This time last week we were staring down the barrel, third from bottom with a worse record than at the same stage last year, writes Saddlers blogger Mark Jones.
Saddlers Blog
Business Awards
Book a Business Awards table
Join our celebrations of the region's best in business on Thursday March 22 - book your table now
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Express & Star and Shropshire Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases
OUR NEW APP
Get the new E&S app
Download the Express & Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
expressandstar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
