Carlos Bacca to West Ham: Colombian striker 'dreams' of Champions League football amid Atletico Madrid interest

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James Benge14 July 2016

Carlos Bacca has expressed his desire to play in the Champions League as West Ham and Atletico Madrid lead the clubs battling for the Colombian striker's signature.

West Ham expect to have an answer from Bacca over whether he intends to move to the Olympic Stadium in the coming days, having had a £26million offer accepted by AC Milan.

Bacca scored 18 goals in 38 Serie A matches for one of the fallen giants of Italian football last season but was unable to fire the Rossoneri any higher than seventh, meaning Vincenzo Montella’s side will be out of European competition for the third season in a row.

Whilst the offer of some form of European football may stand in West Ham’s favour – Slaven Bilic’s side are due to begin their Europa League qualification campaign later this month – but Bacca made clear his “dream” was to play in the Champions League.

West Ham 2016/17 pre-season fixtures

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Atletico Madrid have also targeted Bacca and the 29-year-old suggested the Champions League football they could offer him this season would be a key consideration when he decides where he will play his football in the coming months.

“My future is in God's hands,” he said. “I have 4 years on my contract with Milan, but I know of the interest of English, Spanish, German, French and Italian teams. It's not a simple decision, but we are calm because there is time and my agent is in contact with these clubs and Milan.

“The Champions League with Atletico? It's my dream to play in it and I work for it.

“Unfortunately the struggles at Milan is one of the reasons for the discussions with the club. Now Berlusconi has sold to new investors and based on the project and the new purchases I'll decide.”

Co-owner David Sullivan has made clear that his side are at least targeting a Champions League berth in their first season at their new stadium and said in June that he saw no reason why West Ham could not replicate Leicester’s title triumph in May.

West Ham have already seen several striking targets fall by the wayside. The club have had bids rejected for Alexandre Lacazette, saw Michy Batshuayi join Chelsea and refused to pay the £250,000-a-week that Carlos Tevez demanded to return to east London.

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