West Ham line up £25m bid for William Carvalho but deal hinges on player exits

Sporting hero: William Carvalho has attracted interest from a number of English clubs
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Ken Dyer10 August 2017

Portugal midfielder William Carvalho has emerged as West Ham’s final summer transfer target but any deal could depend on players such as Sofiane Feghouli and Robert Snodgrass leaving the club.

West Ham are preparing a club record £25million bid for the Sporting Lisbon player, who is keen to move to the Premier League but first need to complete the £4.5m sale of Feghouli to Galatasaray. Scotland international Snodgrass, bought from Hull for £10m in January, is wanted by Aston Villa.

Carvalho, who has 37 caps and was a member of the team that won Euro 2016, has been watched by a number of Premier League clubs for several seasons but the £39.5m release clause fee had proved a problem.

West Ham are optimistic, though, that around £25m would now be sufficient for Sporting Lisbon, especially with Carvalho’s new agent Pere Guardiola, brother of Manchester City manager Pep, acting as broker.

Hammers manager Slaven Bilic still has money to spend in this transfer window, particularly if one or more players leave and his priority remains a holding midfield player of Carvalho’s quality.

Bilic will have to be patient before one of his other major summer signings, Javier Hernandez builds what he expects to be a fruitful partnership with play maker Manuel Lanzini.

The Argentine picked up a knee injury in pre-season and will miss the first two games of the season, both away against Manchester United and Southampton. Michail Antonio is also set to miss the season opener due to his hamstring problem.

“Chicharito brings movement to our attack,” said Bilic. “He has played most of his career in a position where he is close to the penalty area, whether that was at Real Madrid, Manchester United or Bayer Leverkusen.

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“He is very good at counter-attacks, with his pace and movement. Especially when we have the injured players back, such as Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio, we will give him the service he needs.

“Even without those two on Sunday, I believe Marko Arnautovic and Andre Ayew, will find him with the ball.”

Hernandez joined from Bayer Leverkusen for £16m and kicks off his second spell in the Premier League on Sunday away to United, the club where he spent five yeas.

The Mexico striker said: “I’m living my dream. I’m very glad to be here in one of the best cities in the world. What else can I ask for? I’m playing in the best League in the world for this historic club. It will be emotional, of course, to be up against my old club, with my new team. I want to do as best as I can. It’s an important moment for me.

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