West Ham United exchange documents to seal big-money Luis Guilherme in transfer twist
West Ham and Palmeiras are now in the process of exchanging documents to seal a deal for Luis Guilherme, according to Bruno Andrade.
The UoL Esporte journalist reported via Twitter on 3 June that the deal is now being closed for a value of €30million [£25.5m], with an up-front fee of €23m [£19.6m] and €7m more linked to goals [£5.96m].
The Irons were thought to be close to securing a deal to sign the Brazilian teenager late last week [Fabrizio Romano, 31 May], before it appeared to have followed the move for Patricio Bruno in collapsing at a late stage as David Sullivan was said to be pulling the plug [HITC, 3 June].
But in an increasingly chaotic start to the summer for West Ham it appears the move for the 18-year-old is now back on again and closer than ever to completion.
Andrade wrote, translated into English: “Luís Guilherme at West Ham being closed for 23 million euros (R$ 131 million) fixed + 7 million euros (R$ 40 million) for goals. Global value of 30 million euros (R$ 171 million).
“Palmeiras is already in the process of exchanging documents with the English club.”
David Sullivan gets his way on West Ham transfer?
The beginning of the club’s transfer business has shown that nothing can be certain until it is officially confirmed but it looks like perhaps the threat of two deals collapsing in quick succession has been avoided.
Whether that means Sullivan has relented on how much he was prepared to spend on this deal or his negotiating stance has seen Palmeiras and Guilherme give in is unclear.
But the numbers quoted by Andrade appear to actually be even more favourable to the Irons than those reported by Romano when the deal was first nearing completion.
Since the Saudi Pro League is said to be the competition for Guilherme [Sun, 3 June], just as it was for Bruno, there is potentially still scope for this move to swing back away from West Ham.
But the latest update at least appears to be a positive one to raise hopes again of Tim Steidten’s work in South America paying off with an early signing.
In other West Ham news, the Irons are also involved in a heated battle to sign an English-based attacking star.
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