West Ham perfectly placed to land major target with deal possible through player’s aim

West Ham are reportedly top of the pile regarding the pursuit of Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic, thanks to his apparent European aspirations.

The Hammers have been linked with a move for Milenkovic for some time. Indeed, they were tracking him in January, but nothing came of their interest.

West Ham are not the only side that have been linked with a move for the Serbian. There has been other interest from Englandin the form of Tottenham and Newcastle United.

In Serie A, Inter Milan have been established as a potential suitor. However, it appears Simone Inzaghi’s side are now targeting Torino’s Gleison Bremer instead.

There have also been links to Juventus following the transfer of Milenkovic’s former teammate and fellow Serbian Dusan Vlahovic.

However, links between West Ham and Milenkovic have kicked up again of late. While the player extended his deal by a year recently, that was seen as a gentleman’s agreement between Fiorentina and Milenkovic ahead of a future move.

Indeed, it looks as if Fiorentina may be willing to see the centre-back move on in the summer.

Furthermore, it seems that West Ham are now in prime position to land him. Corriere Fiorentino, via Sport Witness, claims Milenkovic has aspirations of playing European football.

West Ham have been battling for a top-four finish for much of the season. They currently sit in seventh, so could make the Europa Conference League, or better, depending on their finish to the season.

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Dominic Calvert-Lewin is being heavily linked with moves to Arsenal and West Ham, after a very difficult season with Everton.

In addition, the Hammers are in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Were they to win that competition, they would automatically qualify for the Champions League.

Retaining Milenkovic relies of European football

Fiorentina may still hold out some hope that they can retain Milenkovic. However, that would reportedly rely on them getting into Europe themselves.

The report states that unless they do secure European football, their efforts to retain him would be a ‘waste of time’.

Fiorentina are currently eighth in Serie A, four points below sixth, with a game in hand. As such, it is not out of the realms of possibility that they could secure European football.

However, that is of course dependant on how they perform for the rest of the season.

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