West Ham United close in on Luizao transfer, he is Declan Rice replacement
West Ham United are closing in on the transfer of Sau Paulo defender Luizao, who may be seen as the replacement for Declan Rice this summer, according to Claret and Hugh.
The South American is rated highly and will become a free agent at the end of January, although, the player and his staff would like to see Sau Paulo gain some financial compensation for his departure.
The report claims that West Ham United faced competition for Luizao’s signature from the likes of Porto, Benfica, Fulham and unnamed Spanish clubs.
“The highly rated South American is also fancied by Porto, Benfica, Fulham and Spanish clubs who, according to various sources, have all made approaches for Luizão in the past few months,” as quoted by Claret and Hugh.
“He is becoming a free agent at the end of January when his contract with São Paulo expires, and even though the player and his staff would like the Brazilian side to have some kind of financial compensation for his departure, the talks between the clubs did not develop.
“IG claims that West Ham are willing to speak to São Paulo to speak about the percentage of a future transfer, which could maybe bring forward the player’s arrival in London.
“And a key source at the London Stadium told CandH ‘It’s not 100% done, but we are looking at it.'”
Rice out?
The arrival of the Brazilian could very well mean that Rice’s time at the London Stadium is coming to an end, unfortunately.
If this is the case, the Hammers must get every last penny they can for the England international and capitalise on his current massive value.
There will be countless teams coming in for his signature, so the Irons could play out a bidding war for Rice, something which could be extremely lucrative.
We are talking about a transfer fee that will likely be in the £100m+ region and rightly so, Rice is a generational talent that warrants such a price tag.
It’s nice to see the club are already lining up solid replacements for him too, there would be nothing worse than getting rid of Rice and having no one lined up to take over his role in the team.
It’s going to be a busy summer at the London Stadium, with the potential money brought in from a Rice sale, there could be plenty more arrivals like Luizao coming through.