West Ham on verge of agreeing deal with Fiorentina for Nikola Milenkovic
West Ham are close to agreeing a deal with Fiorentina to sign centre-back Nikola Milenkovic, according to TuttoMercatoWeb.
The Italian football news website reports that intermediaries are also working on a deal for Serbia international Milenkovic, who is in the final year of his contract at billionaire-owned Fiorentina [Forbes] and unwilling to sign a new deal.
It is understood that it remains to be seen where the 23-year-old wants to play next season by ExWHUemployee has reported that positive talks were held with him on Thursday.
Finally, some progress
It has been a deeply frustrating summer for West Ham fans.
Our season kicks off in just over a week and David Moyes has brought in the grand total of one new player, goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
In all honesty, we could have got away without signing Areola. But he is a very good addition and we don’t mean to talk him down or the club for signing him – it’s just odd that was prioritied.
West Ham definitely need to reinforce their centre-back options after losing Fabian Balbeuna at the end of last season and Milenkovic seems as though he’ll be an upgrade.
The former Partizan Belgrade defender made 34 appearances in Serie A last season and has 121 in total in Italy’s top-flight, meaning he’s got a good amount of experience in a major European league.
According to stats by WhoScored, Milenkovic averaged one block per game in Serie A last term, ranking him joint-fifth in the whole league.
He also ranked joint-sixth for offsides won per game [0.8], showing that he’s got great positioning and defensive awareness.
Milenkovic is someone who should be able to slot straight into Moyes’ defence at the London Stadium and if he doesn’t, he will add some real strength in depth.
Let’s hope this is a done deal soon.
In other West Ham news, the Irons are eyeing up this player after he quit a Premier League last week.
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