Bayern Munich urged to beat West Ham to £15m striker, legend says he's ideal 'back-up for Kane'

Premier League outfit West Ham United are already chasing one of European football’s rising striker prospects but is he really a talent worth of Bayern Munich?

Can he perform the role of back-up to Harry Kane at the Bundesliga leaders?

Jurgen Kohler, the German legend who won the 1990 World Cup as well as two league titles with Bayern Munich, certainly thinks so.

Because while Vincent Kompany’s team haven’t exactly limped along in Kane’s recent injury-enforced absence – Bayern have scored nine goals this week alone against Heidenheim and Shakhtar Donetsk – the lack of alternative centre-forward options in their ranks is a slight cause for concern.

TBR Football reported back in October that West Ham were watching Nurnburg hitman Stefanos Tzimas. But, according to Kohler, so should Bayern.

Especially considering that, without Kane, Kompany was forced to start a 35-year-old Thomas Muller up front in his place.

Bayern Munich urged to beat West Ham United to Stefanos Tzimas

Tzimas is not quite two decades Muller’s junior but he’s not far off.

The teenager is still just 18. That is a year for every million euros parent club PAOK want from a player who is spending 2024/25 on loan in Germany’s second tier.

Nurnburg know that keeping Stefanos Tzimas is all-but impossible. That £15 million fee is likely to be well beyond their reach, even if promotion back to the Bundesliga can be secured this term.

But West Ham, and certainly Bayern Munich, have much deeper pockets.

“Bayern are missing a back-up for Kane,” Kohler, also formerly of Juventus and Borussia Dortmund, tells BILD. “So I would advise those responsible to look to Nuremberg.

“For whom? For Stefanos Tzimas.

“He is an excellent striker with good moves and seven goals [in just eight Bundesliga.2 starts]. A very good performance for an 18-year-old, even in the second division.

“Behind Kane, you cannot buy a top striker even for 50 million [euros]. So it would be wiser to get [a younger] talent.”

Of course, Kohler’s argument does not take into account how Tzimas – coached by another Bayern icon in Miroslav Klose at Nurnburg – would feel sitting on the bench behind arguably the finest centre-forward in world football.

You only need to ask Jann-Fiete Arp.

A former striking wonderkid in a similar position to Tzimas, Arp arrived at Bayern Munich from Hamburg back in 2019 amid lofty expectations. But, with Robert Lewandowski as consistent as ever, Arp would leave for Holstein Kiel three years later without a single league appearance under his belt.

Greece starlet Tzimas is ‘one of the top talents in Europe’

“We need a lot, a lot of creativity [to sign Tzimas permanently],” Joti Chatzialexiou, Nurnburg’s sporting director, told reporters recently. “The sum is horrendous.

“At his age, Stefanos is one of the top talents in Europe. And, in terms of stature, he is not really a player who would sign with FCN [normally].”

Tzimas is keen on a move to English football at some point down the line, meanwhile. Though, with Niclas Fullkrug enduring an injury-hit start and Michail Antonio unavailable for the forseable future, The Hammers may opt for a more senior option.

TBR understands that West Ham are watching Corinthians talisman Yuri Alberto again, one year after a £14 million bid was rebuffed for the 31-goal Brazil international.

West Ham also admire Brighton and Hove Albion frontman Evan Ferguson. Director Tim Steidten wants Mainz’s Jonathan Burkhardt at the London Stadium, however, and could use his Bundesliga connections to make such a deal possible.

“I try to do my best every day and do my part to ensure a successful season,” Tzimas told Bild recently. “We’ll see what happens in the summer.

“[I want] to play in the Premier League at some point. But there is still a lot to do until then, and at the moment I am in the right place at the club for my personal development.”