West Ham United news as update emerges in pursuit of Real Betis defender Luiz Felipe
West Ham have cooled their interest in signing Real Betis defender Luiz Felipe this summer, according to Diario AS.
The Spanish newspaper reported on its website on 23 August that the Hammers have ended their pursuit of the Italy international after securing the signing of Konstantinos Mavropanos from VfB Stuttgart on 22 August.
It said the option of the “excellent” 26-year-old joining the Irons is now “impossible” following the arrival of the Greek international, with the La Liga side “disappointed” about the latest development.
No surprise
This update comes as no real surprise as it was always highly unlikely that West Ham would sign more than one central defender this summer.
David Moyes was looking to add another option at the back and a deal for Mavropanos was quite quickly concluded by the Hammers’ standards.
They had been linked with Luiz Felipe for much of the summer, but a deal never really looked close to being completed with the sides unable to agree on a fee for the Brazilian-born defender.
A deal for the Greek probably makes more sense as he is a taller centre-back than the Betis man and Moyes was keen to add more of a presence to the heart of his backline.
The club’s focus now looks to be on improving our forward options as we look to replace Gianluca Scamacca and add more goals to the side after struggling to find the back of the net last season.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers are closing in on a new signing after a breakthrough has been made.