West Ham have an incredible plan to pair up two of the best players in the league in their respective roles this summer.
With Declan Rice on his way out for what will be a club record fee, West Ham will be looking to sign at least one – but more likely two – central midfielders to replace their generational hybrid talent.
It was claimed last week by a source close to co-owner David Sullivan that West Ham will have around £200m to spend this summer.
And around half that figure will be raised by the now inevitable sale of Rice.
West Ham fans will be well aware the club has been heavily linked with a move for Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse.
Hammers devising summer transfer plan
Ahead of the win over Saints at the beginning of April, David Moyes effectively admitted he looked at signing Rice’s England teammate last summer.
Given Rice’s unique talent, West Ham simply will not be able to attract a player of the same all around ability and class.
And central midfield is too important a position to rely on an unproven youngster.
So West Ham will need to sign specialist midfielders to replace what Rice brought to the side while also adding something different to their armoury.
And that is exactly what the Hammers are planning to do according to a new report from The Sun.
Report: West Ham’s incredible plan to pair up two of the best players in the league in their respective roles this summer
West Ham’s incredible plan is to pair up two of the best players in the league in their respective roles this summer.
According to the report, West Ham do want Ward-Prowse. And they specifically want to partner him with Fulham’s ridiculously impressive Portgual midfield star Joao Palhinha.
The world and its wife knows all about what the Saints skipper would bring to the Hammers.
His free-kicks and set-piece delivery could easily add 15-20 goals to any side. And he is a tidy, steady midfielder in the Mark Noble mould too.
A perfect blend as West Ham prepare for life after irreplaceable Rice?
But Ward-Prowse is nowhere near the same class as Rice – not many are after all – in what he offers in open play.
So it makes perfect sense that West Ham want Palhinha – who has been head and shoulders one of the best defensive midfield players in the Premier League this season – alongside him.
With Palhinha controlling the middle of the park, it would free Ward-Prowse and Lucas Paqueta up to do damage in the attacking third.
Each player can do both sides of the game so it would make West Ham extremely robust while offering a big attacking threat too.
“West Ham have long tracked the England midfielder (Ward-Prowse) and are keen to add Fulham’s Joao Palhinha alongside him as they look to replace Declan Rice, a target for Arsenal and Manchester United,” the report claims.
That would certainly take the edge off losing Rice for the Hammers.
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