West Ham’s Stephen Hendrie bid rejected as they chase Hamilton defender
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West Ham will need to up their bid if they are to secure the signature of highly rated Hamilton Academical left-back Stephen Hendrie, according to reports.
The Accies have today rejected a bid from the east London side, thought to be in the region of £2m for the Scotland under-21 international.
Sam Allardyce may have rivals as he seeks to bring in competition for places at the back, with Scottish champions Celtic and a whole host of other Premier League clubs said to be tracking the player.
The Hammers boss will have been buoyed by the impact Aaron Cresswell has had since his move from Ipswich, making the jump up to top-flight football with little fuss, and sees the Scot as the perfect addition to his squad.
Hendrie, despite being just 20-years-old, has made 99 appearances for the Lanarkshire club, and has secured a regular starting berth this season.
When speaking to the Daily Record about the interest he is attracting at the start of the month, he gave West Ham reason to be both positive and negative in equal measure, regarding his chances of joining them:
“I’m a Celtic fan and the English Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world. That’s my dream – you want to reach as high a level as you can and if I could get to the Premier League that would be brilliant”, he stated.
Meanwhile, in the same article then-Hamilton boss Alex Neil gave hope to the chasing parties:
“My job is to give guys such as Stephen the platform to play. If teams come in and pay the right money for the player I will gladly shake their hand and thank them for everything they’ve done.”
But with Neil since taking over the reins at Norwich, it will be interesting to see how Academical’s stance changes.
Despite their first bid being rejected, it is understood that West Ham are willing to raise their bid and go in again for the defender.
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