There are now less than 60 hours to go until the summer transfer window closes and West Ham are still active.The Hammers have a deal lined up with PSG for midfielder Carlos Soler.
West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui has been pushing to sign his fellow Spaniard.
And a top club insider has confirmed to Hammers News that West Ham do want to sign Soler before the deadline.That will only happen if – and it’s a big if at this stage – the Hammers can offload two or three players, though.
Kurt Zouma is expected to depart for Saudi first. But a host of others have been linked with moves away too including Nayef Aguerd, Danny Ings, Maxwel Cornet and James Ward-Prowse.
West Ham signed Ward-Prowse for £30m from Southampton last summer.But the set piece specialist was very much a David Moyes addition.Soler, who would only push Ward-Prowse further down West Ham’s midfield pecking order – is also a free-kick specialist.
So it makes sense that if the Hammers are to make the 27-year-old former Valencia star their ninth signing of a brilliant window, Ward-Prowse would likely be the one to leave.
It has been reported that Nottingham Forest could launch a bid to sign Ward-Prowse with a £25m fee mooted.
Now the star has taken drastic action to force an exit and it could be great news for West Ham.
Usually with football transfers a club will reach out to a club to try and sign one of their players.
But Ward-Prowse’s advisers have actually been approaching West Ham’s Premier League rivals in the hope of drumming up a move for the midfielder.That’s according to talkSPORT reporter Alex Crook – who was one of the first to break news of Ward-Prowse’s move to West Ham last summer.
“West Ham are open to offers for James Ward-Prowse little over a year after paying £30m to buy him from Southampton…” Crook reports.
“talkSPORT understands Ward-Prowse’s advisers have been actively contacting other Premier League clubs to try and generate interest in the 29-year-old.”There was fantastic news over the future of West Ham’s linked-away midfielder Edson Alvarez from Man United yesterday.
Julen Lopetegui is said to be a big fan of Tomas Soucek, who has started both Premier League games so far – scoring in the win over Palace.
The Hammers boss is playing Lucas Paqueta in a more central role and he has signed Guido Rodriguez in central midfield too.
Factor in that the long-term plan is to get Mohammed Kudus in a more central attacking midfield role and it’s difficult to see where Ward-Prowse fits in.
Especially given Lopetegui wants to sign Soler.
The Spanish midfielder has struggled to establish himself at PSG but would offer far more in open play than Ward-Prowse.
So it is easy to see why Lopetegui is keen to bring him in and – seemingly – agreeable to Ward-Prowse departing should it grease the wheels for that move.
If Ward-Prowse’s representatives are successful in getting him a move to another Premier League club – perhaps on loan with an obligation to buy – then it would be excellent news for West Ham’s hopes of signing Soler.
There is rival interest from Real Sociedad and Saudi. So West Ham will need to be sure they are going to offload another player in addition to Zouma before pulling the trigger on a deal for Soler.
Ward-Prowse could be that sacrificial lamb
