West Ham are looking to sign Club Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken, with the player keen on a move to the London Stadium.
The Hammers, who are also pushing to tie up deals for Paris Saint-Germain defender Thilo Kehrer and Chelsea’s Emerson Palmieri, are yet to make a formal bid for Vanaken but have held initial discussions with the Belgian side and are confident of agreeing a fee.
The 29-year-old, who has been capped 21 times by Belgium, registered nine goals and nine assists in the Juliper Pro League last term and is already match fit having played 90 minutes in each of Brugge’s first four matches of the new domestic season, which started last month.
Vanaken will turn 30 later this month and his age would make him an unusual signing for David Moyes, who has tended to target younger players, but the Scot is also keen to add experience to a dressing room that has lost the likes of Mark Noble, Ryan Fredericks and Andriy Yarmolenko this summer.
Brugge’s vice-captain, Vanaken led the side on numerous occasions last term and is a veteran of five Champions League campaigns, scoring against PSG, RB Leipzig and Manchester City in last season’s group stage.
Moyes’ immediate priority is to bolster the Hammers’ backline, having gone into the season with Kurt Zouma as his only fit centre-back. West Ham have lost each of their first two matches, against City and newly-promoted Nottingham Forest.
On Monday, the club submitted a £13million bid for left-back Emerson, who is expected to leave Stamford Bridge and would provide competition for Aaron Cresswell.
The Italian international is understood to prefer a move to West Ham over interest from Forest and Atalanta and the deal could progress quickly, possibly in time for the 28-year-old to feature against Brighton this weekend.
Chelsea’s preference is for the full-back to depart on a permanent basis and that suits West Ham, who want to remain in contention to sign the likes of Conor Gallagher or Armando Broja on loan should the Blues decide to allow them to leave late in the window. Premier League rules do not allow teams to have more than one player on loan from the same club at once.
Talks have been ongoing with PSG over Kehrer, who is in the final year of his contract, and West Ham have made an improved bid for the German international worth just over £10m plus add-ons after seeing their first formal offer knocked back.
