West Ham After Balotelli

It seems that Gianfranco Zola has identified Inter Milan's eighteen year old striker Mario Balotelli as his number one transfer target. Zola has made his desire to sign Balotelli very clear,

"It would be in both our interests if he came to West Ham.

"There's no place for him at Inter and he's a natural talent. He is extroverted and knows his attitude can upset people, but he's intelligent and still learning to handle situations."

The Sun claim that West Ham have offered £8 million for the player.

They don't say however where West Ham suddenly got £8 million from. The newspapers are still full of rumours of Ashton leaving for Stoke. I can't see West Ham coughing up £8 million for a player without Ashton departing first.