---
title: "West Ham leading the race for highly-rated Serbian defender"
canonical: "https://readwestham.com/2015/11/30/west-ham-leading-race-highly-rated-serbian-defender/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Dylan Bregman"
section: "West Ham News"
published: "2015-11-30T12:14:47Z"
modified: "2015-11-30T12:14:47Z"
---

# West Ham leading the race for highly-rated Serbian defender

[TalkSport](https://talksport.com/football/tottenham-and-west-ham-among-clubs-flocking-ps12m-torino-defender-151126175688) reports that Nikola Maksimovic may move to London in the January transfer window. The 24-year-old currently plays for Torino and there’s been reported interest from Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, however, Italian sports paper Tuttosport claim Tottenham, West Ham and Napoli are all leading the race.

The Serbian has been injured since September but has recently been compared to Nemanja Vidic the ex-Manchester United defender.

Nikola is a Serbian international who has made seven appearances at first team level. Torino signed him from Red star initially on a loan deal with a buy-out clause at the end of it. Maksimovic made his debut in early October as a substitute against Sampdoria where the game finished 2–2. He broke into the first team and at the end of the season signed a permanent deal until 2018. With a couple of years still remaining on his contract, Torino are looking for around £12m for the services of this fierce centre-half.