West Ham are believed to have begun talks with Barcelona over the potential signing of full-back Junior Firpo.
Touted as an interested party for some time, the Hammers, along with Premier League rivals Southampton, have reportedly moved along in their discussions over the 24-year-old left-back.
This is according to a report from Spanish outlet SPORT, as cited by Sport Witness on Twitter.
Twitter: Junior Firpo | West Ham in talks to ‘finalise’ signing – Club have serious hope of moving player to PL.… https://t.co/QILyreVBP1 (@Sport_Witness)
The report claims Barcelona are ‘confident’ about being able to offload Firpo and have been in talks with the two English sides for a number of days.
Signed for £16.3million from Real Betis in 2019 (Goal), the Catalan giants immediately placed an eye-watering £172million release clause on their Dominican Republic ace’s head.
However, having made just 18 appearances in all competitions during 2020/21 – Barca are reportedly willing to accept offers of around £14m for Firpo.
READ WEST HAM VERDICT
Hammers boss David Moyes is seemingly determined to sign an able deputy and ultimately competition for Aaron Cresswell this summer.
Despite the continued impressive performances from the 31-year-old this season, the Irons manager has been actively pursuing an understudy for some time and could now have his man.
The main stumbling block for the Hammers could be the immediacy of first-team opportunities – something that will be available with the Saints as Ryan Bertrand is set to leave the south coast club.
