A young star has confirmed he’ll be leaving Arsenal imminently and a Hammers board source says it’s for West Ham.
Arsenal lured away West Ham’s captain last summer when they signed Declan Rice for £105m.
Now it seems the Hammers could be taking a player from Arsenal who had been earmarked as a potential future Gunners skipper.
West Ham and Arsenal are both going to be very active in the summer transfer window.
But while the Gunners are eyeing minor tweaks to fine tune their title-challenging team, West Ham face a major rebuild.
Mikel Arteta’s fellow Basque Country boss Julen Lopetegui must sign at least another six players, possibly more depending on sales.
The Hammers are planning to shift a number of players not in Lopetegui’s plans in order to raise further transfer funds.
When Rice was sold to Arsenal for a British record fee at the time, West Ham spent the money expertly well.
Hammers turn to Arsenal for third capture of summer
Technical director Tim Steidten managed to beat the Gunners to star Mohammed Kudus and his Ajax teammate Edson Alvarez for a combined £72.5m.
The Hammers have changed their transfer recruitment policy now that Steidten has full control.
The club is looking to sign young, talented players whose contract situation means they are available for reasonable fees.
Many of them are being targeted before they come onto the radar of elite clubs or those leaving such outfits in search of regular game time, much like the Red Bull model.
And it seems that has led West Ham to Arsenal for their third signing of the summer.
West Ham have already signed veteran goalkeeper Wes Foderingham on a free transfer and 18-year-old Brazilian teen sensation Luis Guilherme for around £25m all in.
Two positions Lopetegui and Steidten are desperate to strengthen next is centre-back and back-up left-back.
West Ham want someone as back-up to Emerson Palmieri.
Now a star has confirmed he’ll leave Arsenal imminently and a board source says it’s for West Ham.
