Luizao to sign for West Ham United in January, will sign contract within days
Sau Paulo defender Luizao will sign for West Ham United in January, with his Hammers contract to be finalised within days, according to gazetaesportiva.com.
The 20-year-old defender will sign a pre-contract agreement with West Ham United within days to seal the move as soon as his contract with Sau Paulo ends in January.
The report claims that the proposal of Sao Paulo to maintain 15% of Luizao’s economic rights, in addition to receiving €1million [£876,000], if the player reached goals stipulated in the contract, was not accepted.
“The West Ham representative who conducted the negotiation stopped being answered by the São Paulo board. The proposal of São Paulo to maintain 15% of Luizão’s economic rights, in addition to receiving 1 million euros, if the player reached goals stipulated in the contract, was not accepted,” stated journalist Marcelo Baseggio as quoted by gazetaesportiva.com.
“Thus, there was no other option for Luizão than to sign a pre-contract with West Ham, without any financial compensation to São Paulo, to transfer to English football at the end of his link with Tricolor.
“The pre-contract formulated by West Ham is under analysis by the legal department of Luizão’s staff. The expectation is that the defender will sign the documents in the coming days to sacrament his transfer.”
Quality.
It’s nice to see West Ham United adding some quality youngsters to their squad, especially in one of the team’s current problem areas.
Craig Dawson and Angelo Ogbonna are now 32 and 34 respectively and are on the tail end of their West Ham United careers.
Luizao will provide a fresh new challenge to David Moyes’ backline and although largely unproven it seems like a smart transfer from the Irons.
Signing the Brazilian on a free all but confirms this and takes away any big-money transfer fee woes that may have come if things didn’t work out.
The 20-year-old is a classic South American defender whose fiery, aggressive and loves to make a tackle.
He’s definitely one to look out for in the future, whether or not he can come into the London Stadium and make an instant impact remains to be seen.
Nevertheless, this bit of business looks like a savvy one from West Ham.