West Ham boss David Moyes and Rob Newman are close to handing over a shortlist to David Sullivan for their biggest summer transfer deal.
West Ham fans are well aware they are approaching the final whistle on seeing their beloved captain Declan Rice in the claret and blue.
Rice is being hotly tipped for a big money move from West Ham to Arsenal in the summer.
And the latest reports claim Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is planning Rice talks imminently (The Mirror).
The Hammers have – obviously – been working to identify potential replacements for Rice for some time.
Hammers doing homework on heavily linked targets
One of those reportedly at the top of West Ham’s list to replace Rice is soon-to-be relegated Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse.
Other names such as Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Eintracht Frankfurt star Djibril Sow have also been heavily linked.
Now West Ham boss David Moyes and Rob Newman are close to handing over a shortlist to David Sullivan for their biggest summer transfer.
That’s according to Football Insider’s transfer correspondent Pete O’Rourke.
West Ham boss David Moyes and Rob Newman are close to handing over shortlist to David Sullivan for biggest summer transfer deal
He says West Ham have been ‘scouring the transfer market for a midfielder as they prepare for life after Rice’.
It seems the Hammers have been hard at work on targets.
Because the reporter believes Moyes – who has last say on all transfers working alongside head of recruitment Newman – is almost ready to hand over the Rice replacement shortlist to Sullivan and the West Ham board.
“West Ham are scouring the transfer market for a midfielder signing as they prepare for life after Declan Rice, sources have told Football Insider…” O’Rourke states.
West Ham’s most important deal for years
“As such, West Ham are beginning to finalise their shortlist of midfield targets with the end of the season rapidly approaching.
“West Ham could also have Europa League football to help lure high-profile summer targets to the London Stadium.”
Make no mistake, replacing Rice is not just West Ham’s biggest and most important signing of the summer. It is the most critically important for years.
The Hammers have to get it right. Moyes and Newman should be aiming to sign two midfield players with differing attributes to cover that central role.
One more destructive, defensive ball-winner and another who is more box-to-box like a Milinkovic-Savic or Sow.
It promises to be an intriguing and very busy summer with lots of signings needed in other positions too.
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