Transfer rumours: West Ham United end striker hunt, Martin Dubravka may leave Newcastle United, Fulham end Jhon Cordoba bid

Sports Mole rounds up the latest January transfer rumours, including West Ham United ending their search for a striker and Martin Dubravka potentially leaving Newcastle United.

West Ham United are reportedly unlikely to push to sign for a new striker before the end of the January transfer window.
The Hammers have enjoyed a solid campaign thus far, currently sitting in sixth position in the Premier League table and having reached the last 16 of the Europa League.

However, with Michail Antonio having been absent with a knee injury and Danny Ings having generally not made an impact in his place, Jarrod Bowen has been used down the centre of the attack.

As a result, a wide array of names have been linked with a switch to the London Stadium, including Chelsea’s Armando Broja and Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran.

According to Football Insider, West Ham have performed a U-turn and will instead put off their striker search until the summer.

Instead, the likes of Mohammed Kudus and youngster Divin Mubama will be considered as competition and backup to Bowen and Ings until Antonio returns to full fitness.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka is said to be considering an exit from St James’ Park at the end of the season.

As a result of a dislocated shoulder to Nick Pope, Dubravka has been required to make 12 appearances for the Magpies in all competitions during 2023-24.

However, with Pope in line to resume goalkeeping duties in the spring, the 35-year-old is likely to return to the substitutes’ bench.

Although there are currently 18 months remaining on his contract, agent David Zika has indicated that a transfer elsewhere is a possibility in the summer.

Speaking via Sport.sk, Zika said: “Mato [Dubravka] is satisfied that he has the necessary minutes, but the truth is also that if Nick Pope comes back, United will have two quality goalkeepers and only one can play.

“I personally think, and we talked about it with him, that now he has excellent timing for everything. He’s playing, he’s getting better and better in every game, then the European Championships will come and he’ll only have a year left on his contract.

“If he wins the [Euros] in Germany, he can get into an excellent position and either negotiate better conditions in Newcastle, or he will look for another challenge, but we are already ahead of that.”

The Slovakia international has made 145 appearances for Newcastle in all competitions since initially joining on loan in January 2018.

Fulham have allegedly ended their interest in signing Jhon Cordoba from Russian side FC Krasnodar during the January transfer window.

Although the Cottagers have three frontline strikers in their first-team squad, they are yet to adequately replace previous leading marksman Aleksandar Mitrovic.

As a result, Fulham have seemingly been in negotiations for Cordoba, who has enjoyed an outstanding spell with Krasnodar where he has scored 38 goals in 73 matches.

However, FootballTransfers claims that the Premier League outfit have withdrawn from negotiations for the Colombia international.

Despite there reportedly being talks over a loan with a £7m buy option, Fulham are said to have concerns about how it would be perceived if they conducted business with a Russian club amid the war on Ukraine.

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