Knockdown price of £20 million attracts Hammers interest | Report

The names keep coming in the ultra-slow-motion West Ham midfield upgrade. Whether, as reported, it is because the  club were waiting on the Paquetá inquiry outcome before acting, who knows, but that excuse has come and gone now.

The ponderous first selection of Potter’s Premier League summer series showed the Hammers manager still persevering with the gruesome threesome of Rodriguez, Soucek and Ward Prowse that can’t run or pick a through pass.

The impact of Potts and Fearon showed instantly the shortcomings of the players they replaced and underlined West Ham’s urgent need for action before August 16th.

Reports all over the media this morning suggest yet another ‘player on the radar’ – sigh – of West Ham : Arsenal’s Forgotten £35 million-man Fabio Viera. A creative attacking midfielder, languishing on loan spells back at his former club Porto, what is not evident is that Arsenal were considering a knockdown price for the 25 year old which instantly makes him a more Hammers-friendly option.

According to the metro.co.uk:

“Vieira was loaned back to his boyhood club last term. The 25-year-old regained some of the confidence that marked him out as such an exciting talent but securing a permanent return to the Portuguese club was beyond Porto’s financial means. Vieira has been linked with a £20m move to Parma who are now managed by Mikel Arteta’s former assistant Carlos Cuesta.”

£20 million puts him firmly in Potter and Macaulay’s sights on top of a move for Mads Hermansen: Whether the Irons decide finally to pick and secure a creative attacking midfield player after endless scouting remains to be seen. Surely that dreadful first 70 minutes against Manchester United will get the alarm bells ringing and a faster, more mobile creative layer captured.