West Ham pick up failed Barcelona transfer with Lopetegui to complete stunning four-signing blitz

West Ham are reportedly confident of signing an Argentine World Cup winner as Julen Lopetegui’s side targets a quadruple signing this month.

West Ham have been fairly active in the transfer market this summer, signing centre-back Max Kilman, goalkeeper Wes Foderingham, and winger Luis Guilherme from Wolves, Sheffield United, and Palmeiras respectively.

Conversely, midfielder Flynn Downes left for Southampton, winger Said Benrahma joined Lyon, defender Thilo Kehrer signed for Monaco and Nathan Trott headed for Copenhagen, among other exits.

But the Hammers are not done there, it seems. West Ham are close to recruiting Leeds United winger Crysencio Summerville for a fee in excess of £25m with add-ons.

With Michail Antonio and Danny Ings as the club’s only out-and-out first-team strikers, the Hammers are looking to sign a new number nine to compete with the aforementioned duo.

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Two names that are on their radar are Borussia Dortmund’s Niclas Fullkrug and Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran. 

It appears the 31-year-old German international is a more gettable target, with Dortmund reportedly wanting upwards of £22m for his services.

Conversely, the 20-year-old Duran is valued at £40m by Villa, but that is likely to put off the east London outfit.

Finally, TEAMtalk revealed earlier this week that they will enter into talks with Manchester United about trying to sign right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

United reportedly value the 26-year-old at upwards of £15m but the Hammers are eyeing a £10m deal, so work is still to be done to get that one over the line.

West Ham target free agent

Now, according to Fabrizio Romano, the Hammers have been given priority to sign former Real Betis star and free agent Guido Rodriguez this summer.

The defensive midfielder spent most of his career in South America, playing for River Plate, Tijuana, and Club America before joining Betis in 2020.

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The Argentina international went onto play 173 times for the Spanish side, scoring nine goals along the way, and in that period he was part of the squad that won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The former Defensa y Justicia loanee looked set to join Barcelona earlier this summer but that changed following the appointment of manager Hansi Flick, and the move collapsed.

Links with Atalanta followed but now Romano states West Ham are confident to get a deal done for the 30-year-old, with a verbal agreement now ‘close’.

West Ham brought Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips to London Stadium for the second half of last season on loan but as that didn’t work out, they are now looking for more defensive midfield reinforcements and Rodriguez appears to fit the bill.