By Dave Langton

Hammers recruitment chief Rob Newman is eyeing a raid on Serie A in January and the summer.

The Irons have been linked with a number of players in Italy over recent days and weeks.

Newman used to work for Manchester City and would take himself off to Portugal, Spain, and Italy with regularity as he looked to find new players for the Premier League champions.

Sources have confirmed to C&H that he is doing similar for the Hammers and is interested in signing players from Serie A, as David Moyes continues to reshape his squad.

There is interest in signing another central midfielder, while there could also be a desire to sign a new defender.

Newman is consistently feeding recommendations to Moyes and the board, and there is an acceptance that the club need to cast their net far and wide to improve the squad.

The Hammers went into the market in the summer, signing Gianluca Scamacca from Sassuolo, and he has been in red-hot form in recent games.