West Ham transfer news: Hammers close to topping £100m summer spending spree as they eye Brazilian midfielder Thiago Maia
West Ham are closing in on the Lille defensive midfielder after finally agreeing a fee of around £20million
WEST HAM boss Manuel Pellegrini is set to make his EIGHTH signing of the summer, with Lille’s Brazilian midfielder Thiago Maia poised to join the Hammers.
SunSport can reveal Pellegrini expects to take his spending over the £100million mark later today after finally agreeing a fee of around £20million for the 21-year-old former Santos starlet.
The move will bring to an end Pellegrini’s search for the defensive midfielder he has been searching for all summer.
Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez had been linked with Maia but it’s understood West Ham pushed a deal through yesterday to bring Maia to the London Stadium, two years after he won Olympic Gold with Brazil at the 2016 Olympics in his homeland.
Although Lille had a release clause in excess of £50million for Maia, the Ligue 1 club are in financial meltdown ahead of the new season and need to raise cash quickly.
Pellegrini has taken advantage to land the youngster who made more than 60 appearances for Santos before current Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa invested £12.6million to sign him for Lille last summer, ahead of Juventus and PSG.
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Maia was used in an unfamiliar attacking midfield role at Lille last season and is happy West Ham want him to return to the holding midfield role which took him to the brink of the senior Brazil team one year ago.
Porto's Yacine Brahimi is also being linked with a move to the London Stadium.
The contract rebel has just 12 months left to run on his current deal with the Primeira Liga champions.
West Ham swiftly clawed back some cash by selling Senegal midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate to Crystal Palace in a deal worth £9.5million plus £1.5million in add-ons.
The 28-year-old made headlines earlier this year when he hit out at West Ham’s attitude to African players after the FA launched an investigation into controversial comments attributed to director of recruitment Tony Henry.
Henry allegedly claimed footballers from Africa: “caused mayhem,” prompting Kouyate to upload a picture of himself on social media with the comment: “African and proud.”
The Hammers face French side Angers in Austria on Friday in their final pre-season fixture before kicking off the new Premier League season with a trip to Liverpool on August 12.