West Ham are interested in signing Besiktas midfielder Veli Kavlak, report Sportnet.at. The 26-year-old has worked under the management of Slaven Bilic previously, during his two year tenure at the Turkish top tier club.
The Austrian international, who has one goal in 30 appearances for his country, is being closely tracked by Bilic as he looks to bolster the depth of his squad, ahead of a hectic season in four different competitions.
Current Besiktas manager Fikret Orman has been quoted as saying that he is ‘losing patience’ with the defensive midfielder, with Kavlak suffering a shoulder injury earlier in the year. However, Bilic is still ‘showing interest’, in addition to being in ‘constant contact with him’.
Kavlak could be a replacement target for fellow defensive midfielder Alex Song, with the deal for the latter now in doubt. The Hammers will be looking to add to fellow new faces Pedro Obiang and Dimitri Payet.
