West Ham United co-chairman David Gold has moved to play down talk that the club will miss out on primary summer transfer target Enner Valencia.
Supporters have expressed concerns about the length of time the Hammers are taking to complete the deal for the Pachuca and Ecuador striker, who scored all three of his national side’s goals in this summer’s World Cup.
Hopes were temporarily raised last week when photographs emerged online of the forward arriving at Heathrow Airport, only for the son of co-chairman David Sullivan to confirm the pictures were fake.
Since Jack Sullivan’s criticism of the bogus images, talks have continued and veteran entrepreneur Gold remains confident of securing Valencia’s services for a fee thought to be in the region of £12million.
He said on Twitter: “It’s progressing well.”
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is in the process of reshaping his squad after an inconsistent 2013-14 campaign which saw them flirt with relegation from the top flight yet reach the semi-finals of the League Cup.
They boasted a highly-impressive defensive record but under-performed in front of goal, prompting the end-of-season appointment of their former striker, Teddy Sheringham, as an attacking coach.
The Hammers hope the acquisition of Valencia will also improve matters in the final third of the pitch.