West Ham United have reportedly considered making a €20 million bid to sign Ronaldo Vieira from Sampdoria.
Previous claims suggested that the Hammers approached the Italian club with a €14 million offer, with a final decision on their pursuit of the 21-year-old to be made by Wednesday.
However, new reports from Corriere dello Sport indicate that West Ham have contemplated an improved approach to tempt Sampdoria, with €20 million potentially on the table.
The Italian outlet does suggest, though, that the Serie A outfit are likely to rebuff any interest in Vieira, who has featured 18 times in the top flight for Claudio Ranieri’s side this season.
Read West Ham’s verdict
West Ham appear keen to significantly strengthen their midfield options in the final week of the transfer window, with Tomas Soucek arriving from Slavia Prague.
We think that the Hammers are certainly in need of further reinforcement in the middle of the pitch. Declan Rice is, in our opinion, one of England’s most promising holding midfield players, but we see little proven quality beyond him.
Soucek will add defensive steel to the ranks, but the apparent pursuit of Vieira still intrigues us.
The 21-year-old, previously on Leeds United’s books, is certainly a defensive-minded player; he has contributed with just one assist all season for Sampdoria from a deep-lying role.
Vieira has been a shining light in an otherwise underwhelming campaign for the Italian club, though, who find themselves languishing in 16th place on the Serie A table.
We believe that the Englishman would provide West Ham with a viable option for the here and now as well as the future; he would offer David Moyes some much-needed strength in depth, and his best years certainly appear to be ahead of him.
However, with Soucek coming through the door, we think that the Hammers could be best placed to focus their attentions elsewhere in the final week of the window.
Sebastien Haller has struggled since his big-money move from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer – he has scored only six Premier League goals – and helping him out with another striker of similar quality should be the priority for West Ham’s board, in our opinion.
