A young star has confirmed he’ll be leaving Arsenal imminently and a Hammers board source says it’s for West Ham.
Arsenal lured away West Ham’s captain last summer when they signed Declan Rice for £105m.
Now it seems the Hammers could be taking a player from Arsenal who had been earmarked as a potential future Gunners skipper.
West Ham and Arsenal are both going to be very active in the summer transfer window.
But while the Gunners are eyeing minor tweaks to fine tune their title-challenging team, West Ham face a major rebuild.
Mikel Arteta’s fellow Basque Country boss Julen Lopetegui must sign at least another six players, possibly more depending on sales.
The Hammers are planning to shift a number of players not in Lopetegui’s plans in order to raise further transfer funds.
When Rice was sold to Arsenal for a British record fee at the time, West Ham spent the money expertly well.
Hammers turn to Arsenal for third capture of summer
Technical director Tim Steidten managed to beat the Gunners to star Mohammed Kudus and his Ajax teammate Edson Alvarez for a combined £72.5m.
The Hammers have changed their transfer recruitment policy now that Steidten has full control.
The club is looking to sign young, talented players whose contract situation means they are available for reasonable fees.
Many of them are being targeted before they come onto the radar of elite clubs or those leaving such outfits in search of regular game time, much like the Red Bull model.
