Sullivan making his final signings

David Sullivan is set to oversee his final West Ham signings over the next 24 hours or so.

The chief shareholder will hand over the job to the new head of recruitment (effectively Director of Football ) at the end of next month.

That means – assuming all goes according to plan over the next few years – Rob Newman – currently on gardening leave at Manchester City – will take on the deal doing with agents from the co-chairman.

Newman was sent on gardening leave for three months by Manchester City but the 57-year-old will become clear to start scouting players and become responsible for the financial responsibilities of signing deals in the next window.

That means Sullivan will be keen to get the Nikola Vlasic deal over the line along with another loan deal for a yet unnamed player by tomorrow evening.

Newman was involved with first-team recruitment at the Etihad Stadium and worked alongside Txiki Begiristain, James Smith, Brian Marwood and Gary Worthington, all of whom are key figures in City’s extensive scouting department.

He also worked with the analytics team and was assigned to scout young talent in Spain and France and is fluent in both languages.