West Ham United are safe. An inconsistent, erratic, and stressful season has seen the Irons occasionally flirt with the devastating fate of relegation.

However, the Hammers finished relatively comfortably in 14th position and have the Europa Conference final next week.

Whatever the result of that European showdown, the east London outfit will undoubtedly be active in the summer transfer window, especially when considering their £179m outlay prior to this campaign.

For the quality of the squad, their league place was unflattering, and their underwhelming nature in front of goal hindered their progression.

David Moyes’ side netted an uninspiring 42 Premier League goals in 38 outings, drawing blanks in 32% of their domestic fixtures.

Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma were the club’s top scorers, sharing six goals a piece, to underline a mind-boggling lack of potency.

As a result, the Guardian has reported that West Ham are interested in Leicester City’s Harvey Barnes, which would be a huge statement of intent to resurrect their offensive woes.

Why should West Ham sign Harvey Barnes?

The Englishman is deliciously talented and has offered fantastic levels of output in a hideously disjointed Leciester team that suffered relegation back to the Championship after Everton defeated Bournemouth.

The one-cap international scored 13 goals this season, which is more than Phil Foden, Son Hueng-Min, and Roberto Firmino.

From a wider perspective, this is even more impressive as the former West Brom loanee ranks in the top 6% in Europe’s top five leagues among his positional peers for non-penalty goals, which begs the mouthwatering question of what the winger could achieve in a more functional team.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has previously heaped noticeable praise on the £35k-per-week star and said: “Barnes is probably one of the biggest talents, I’m not sure if he is respected or appreciated as much as he should be, he is an unbelievable player to be honest, a proper Leicester product.”

Barnes’ explosive style of play, combined with his ruthless productivity and commendable judgement of when to run in behind is reminiscent of Bowen’s feats last term.

Although not exactly at the race this season, scoring just six league strikes, during the 2021/22 season, the 26-year-old was utterly phenomenal, recording 22 goal involvements in 34 starts, as he was an integral part of a Clarets side that came sixth and reached the semi-finals of the Europa League.

For the Irons to produce a more fruitful return in front of goal and reclaim a spot in the top half of the league, then the signing of £35k-per-week Barnes could be a stroke of genius and one that replicates Bowen, just from the opposite flank.