David Moyes is hoping to tie up the £25million double capture of Real Betis defender Luiz Felipe and Juventus midfielder Denis Zakaria this week.
The West Ham boss wants to move quickly to replace departing Declan Rice and upgrade the spine of his team even further following their Europa Conference win last month. The deal for centre-back Felipe, 26, is expected to be around £17million.
The Brazil-born Italy international is seen by Moyes as being perfectly suited to the intense speed and robust nature of the English game. His arrival would leave the Hammers spoilt for choice in defender after periods last season where they were without £30million World Cup star Nayef Aguerd, Frenchman Kurt Zouma and 35-year-old Italian Angelo Ogbonna.
It is estimated the deal for Zakaria would be £8million. He'd be handed another crack at English football following his failure to make an impact on loan at Chelsea last season.
Juve are currently focusing on sales to help balance the books and scrape together the funds to do their own business under new director of football Cristiano Giuntoli. Zakaria is among a long list of players they would like to move on following his failure to impress since a £6.5m move from Borussia Mönchengladbach.
But it is felt the Switzerland international has been unlucky with injuries and West Ham feel they will benefit from his tough tackling and his passing range. "Every player is really amazing in this team," Zakaria told the Athletic of his struggles for game time.
"I can say that here the quality of the players in training is one of the best I’ve seen. Of course, Juventus is also really good quality. But here, at Chelsea, I have to say it is really an amazing-quality team.
"Also, you improve yourself in every training (session). I came here to improve myself and that’s why I feel like it will be a good decision to come here.
"It is not easy to be on the bench. Like every player, I want to play. But yes, we have to train hard and prove ourselves. In the end, when you have a chance to play, you must prove yourself in that moment."
