{"id":549451,"date":"2020-04-12T15:26:56","date_gmt":"2020-04-12T19:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=549451"},"modified":"2020-04-12T15:49:07","modified_gmt":"2020-04-12T19:49:07","slug":"report-west-ham-crystal-palace-set-to-battle-it-out-for-ex-sunderland-star-josh-maja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/04\/12\/report-west-ham-crystal-palace-set-to-battle-it-out-for-ex-sunderland-star-josh-maja\/","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: West Ham United and Crystal Palace Set to Battle It out for Ex-Sunderland Star Josh Maja"},"content":{"rendered":"

Both West Ham United<\/a>\u00a0and Crystal Palace<\/a> are interested in signing Bordeaux youngster Josh Maja<\/a>, according to reports from the Sunderland Echo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Nigerian forward won’t come on the cheap, however, and is said to be valued around the \u00a310 million mark.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old has scored six goals in the French top flight this season, after arriving from League One promotion hopefuls Sunderland<\/a> in January 2019.<\/p>\n

West Ham and Crystal Palace Set to Battle it out for ex-Sunderland star Josh Maja<\/h2>\n

Keen on Return to England<\/h3>\n

Bordeaux’s front man would reportedly welcome a return to England. The London born forward is attracting interest from Premier League duo West Ham and Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n

Both clubs are in need of a prolific centre forward, and are set to tussle it out in a bidding war for the Nigerian international this summer.<\/p>\n

Sebastien Haller<\/a> has struggled for consistency at the Olympic Stadium. Adding some depth up top may just be what is needed for the Hammers next season.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Palace will be looking to offload their high-earning Belgian striker Christian Benteke<\/a>, in order to free up cash for a move towards Maja.<\/p>\n

Success at Sunderland<\/h3>\n

Before his move to the south West of France, Josh Maja was in electric form for Sunderland, scoring 16 times in the third tier of English football.<\/p>\n

His move abroad was well documented in the new series of Netflix’s Sunderland ‘Til I die, as the Black Cats failed to nail him down to a contract extension on Wearside.<\/p>\n

Sunderland could yet profit on the youngster’s rise however, as a sell on clause was included as part of the deal that saw Maja leave the North-East.<\/p>\n

That clause is understood to be 10% of any future fee, so if the forward was to leave for the rumoured \u00a310 million figure, Phil Parkinson’s side would pocket a healthy \u00a31 million kitty.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>