West Ham United have made a £6.8 million bid for 24-year-old centre-back Vitao, but there’s a big problem it seems.
Vitao has emerged as a West Ham transfer target over the past few days, after Tim Steidten’s scouting mission out in Brazil.
The 24 began his career with Palmeiras before joining Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk back in 2019.
He is still owned by the Shakhtar, but has spent the last two years back in Brazil on loan with Internacional.
Julen Lopetegui is keen to bolster his central defensive ranks this summer, and has already seen a move for one Brazilian defender collapse when Bruno rejected a London Stadium switch.
Now the Spaniard and Steidten have switched their attention to another Brazilian, but this time a much younger version.
Vitao is firmly on the Hammers radar, and an offer for the centre-back has already been sent by the East London outfit.
However, there’s a problem…
West Ham eyeing up Vitao swoop
The Hammers have made an €8 million (£6.8 million) bid for the Shakhtar Donetsk defender, according to a report from Goal Brazil.
The 24-year-old might be an unknown, but he has all of the ingredients needed to succeed in the Premier League.
He’s tall, strong in the air, quick along the ground and has real athleticism. On paper, he seems to be the ideal type of centre-back we need.
That said, the Hammers owners have a problem, if they are to bring Vitao to the London Stadium this summer.
Internacional are set to sign him on a permanent deal from Shakhtar, and will then ask West Ham for €10 million (£8.5 million) for his signature.
Whether West Ham are prepared to increase our offer for Vitao by another £1.7 million remains to be seen.
Relatively speaking, that’s absolutely nothing in this day and age, so I fully expect the Hammers to push on with the move to sign the Brazilian.
That said, we all know how David Sullivan doesn’t like to be bullied during transfer negotiations. So it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see this move break down as well!
Vitao is a supremely talented young defender, but he’s a totally unknown quantity. I’d prefer us to sign a more established centre-back this summer.
However, if Steidten rates the 24-year-old highly, then we’ll just have to trust his eye for a player won’t we.
READ ALSO:
West Ham have reportedly just made a £33 million 6ft 4in striker bid
Forgotten 27-year-old Hammer will be like a new signing for Julen Lopetegui
West Ham star’s big U-turn as BBC Sport claims he could now stay at London Stadium in major twist
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
