West Ham have offered £12 million to sign the player, who is an “incredible talent” and is a “composer” from set pieces, and the Hammers have responded to their offer, according to Jacob Steinberg.
It’s been a busy week for the Hammers, who confirmed Lucas Paqueta’s £36.5m move to Flamengo and completed the signing of Adama Traore from Fulham. Coach Nuno Espirito Santo has reorganized his relegation-threatened squad ahead of deadline day.
Flamengo announced on Friday night that they had signed Paqueta to a contract until December 2030, making the Brazilian the most expensive player in the country’s history.
West Ham reluctantly allowed the move after the 28-year-old asked for permission to return home for personal and family reasons after being cleared of spot match-fixing charges last summer.
Paqueta will leave after joining from Lyon in 2022 for a club-record £51m, making 139 appearances and scoring 23 goals and providing 15 assists.
West Ham sensation leaves club for Tottenham after ‘pushing’ for transfer
The Hammers star is on his way to N17.
Amid this high-profile and lengthy departure, West Ham moved quickly to add new attacking strength, completing Traore’s permanent transfer from Fulham for an initial £1 million.
The 30-year-old will be reunited with Nuno, with whom he spent three very productive seasons at Wolves, and the Irons manager was absolutely delighted after signing his former star.
“I know him, I know him very well,” Nuno explained.
“I’ve worked with him for many years and I know him, so that’s why I said he’s unique. There aren’t many players with his ability. There aren’t many players with his speed. And I think he gives us a lot of what we need.”
Meanwhile, West Ham’s defensive reinforcements have faced a setback, with talks to sign Chelsea defender Axel DiSasi seemingly not progressing as far as some have suggested.
The East Londoners then turned to Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis as a replacement, but they didn’t have much luck there either.
West Ham receive reply with £12m bid for Taylor Harwood-Bellis
According to the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg, West Ham have canceled their £12m bid for Harwood-Bellis and the former Man City talent will be put on hold for now.
The 24-year-old, who has started all 17 of Southampton’s previous Championship games, is currently a mainstay for Tonda Eckert and an integral part of the starting eleven.
Despite sitting 15th in the table, Saints could be out of the play-offs by eight points behind sixth-placed Derby County in a highly competitive battle for a spot at Wembley later this year.
Southampton will no doubt not want to lose Harwood-Bellis midway through the season as a result, and it could take a huge effort to convince Eckert’s side to part ways.
The jury is still out on whether the Englishman is worth the big-money punt, but Harwood-Bellis is a player that manager Pep Guardiola has long rated very highly.
“I’m very happy because he’s a very nice person,” Guardiola said of the 2024 defender.
“He is an incredible threat for Southampton from set-pieces and a composer when he has the ball, because the manager insists on the way Southampton play, that they have to get closer, that they have to move differently.”
West Ham offer ‘talented’ former Man United ace, with Wolves keen to sign him
They were contacted about a late move.
