According to a report from Italian media outlet TELENORD, West Ham are ready to offer €20 million (£17 million) for Sampdoria midfielder Ronaldo Vieira.
The Hammers are desperately short in the central midfield department.
They lack any kind of tenacity, physicality or mobility. Mark Noble is declining as he gets older, and the addition of a younger, more energetic central midfielder this month will be absolutely pivotal to their hopes of avoiding the drop.
And reliable West Ham insider ExWHUemployee claimed last week on the West Ham Way podcast that the Hammers have identified Vieira as a potential solution to their central midfield woes.
Italian publication TELENORD now suggest that the east London club are ready to offer £17 million for the former Leeds ace.
Would be a decent addition, but £17m seems excessive
The 21-year-old left Leeds for Sampdoria in the summer of 2018, for a fee believed to be worth £6.2 million, according to the Guardian.
Vieira has gone on to make 35 appearances for the Serie A outfit, chipping in with three assists and no goals (Transfermarkt).
The England under-21 international has just one assist to his name in 18 league games for Sampdoria this season.
In fairness, however, he is a defensive midfielder, so he isn’t expected to contribute much in the final third.
In truth, his defensive numbers haven’t been exactly impressive this term either. According to Who Scored, Vieira has averaged 1.6 tackles, 0.8 interceptions and 1.4 clearances in 18 Serie A appearances.
He does boast an impressive pass completion rate of 82.9%, however (Who Scored).
The 21-year-old also has extensive experience of playing in England, having made 71 appearances for Leeds United.
All in all, he would be a decent addition, and bringing him to the London Stadium would certainly be better than signing nobody at all.
West Ham would be crazy to pay £17 million for Vieira, however. He quite simply isn’t worth that kind of money.
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