Hammers getting close to Repka deal

Ken Dyer13 April 2012

Czech Republic international Tomas Repka was due in London today to have talks with West Ham about a £5 million move.

Repka was last week reported to have signed a four-year contract with West Ham but manager Glenn Roeder said today: "That is not true. We have agreed a fee with his club, Fiorentina, but he hasn't signed for us yet. There is still a good deal of talking to be done."

The defender was reportedly reluctant to be leaving Florence but the Serie A club have serious financial problems and the £5m they will receive from West Ham will ease their worries.

"Tomas has accepted the situation and is keen to come," said Roeder. "We're fortunate that we have another Czech, goalkeeping coach Ludek Miklosko, at the club because he will be invaluable in helping Tomas and his family settle in."

Roeder remains keen to add Repka to his squad despite the fact that his defence again looked solid in the goalless draw against Derby, with most of the problems coming at the other end of the pitch where West Ham failed to score for the second successive game.

"Shaka Hislop was tremendous against Derby," said Roeder, "and the defence also did well. The fact remains though that we lost experienced defenders during the summer in Igor Stimac and Stuart Pearce, plus Rio Ferdinand last season. In addition, Ian Pearce has been told to rest for another three months.

"We are still short in that department and Tomas will be a good signing for us. He's an experienced performer having played 88 matches in Serie A over the last three seasons plus more than 40 senior caps for the Czech Republic."

West Ham have only a Paolo Di Canio penalty to their name in three matches so far and, with Frederic Kanoute suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury, that's a concern for Roeder.

Kanoute looks certain to miss tomorrow's Worthington Cup clash at Reading and next weekend's Premiership match at Middlesbrough.

"We're hoping Freddie is not back to square one but we will have to wait on the results of a scan," said Roeder.

"It's a big disappointment because I thought he looked really good in the first half against Derby. He has power and pace and that always troubles defenders."

Roeder looks likely to move Don Hutchison up front tomorrow, in place of Kanoute, with John Moncur coming in to midfield. "I thought Don looked better as the match went on," said the West Ham manager, "and linked up well with Michael Carrick."

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