It promises to be an interesting summer for West Ham United, and it’s likely to be all systems go in the transfer market once the club have received the money for the Declan Rice deal.
As long as Arsenal pay for the Hammers captain under the terms set down by the east Londoners, David Moyes should hopefully be able to reinvest most, if not all, of the £100m or so that the club are expecting.
It would give the club the power to be able to strengthen in all areas, not just in the defensive midfield slot that Rice has occupied for the Irons over the past few years.
Given how poor West Ham were during the first part of last season, defence would be a fine place for Moyes to begin his squad reshaping.
It appears that the club are already working hard in that department, with Spanish news outlet, El Chiringuito, tweeting that the Hammers have offered €20m/£17m for Real Betis’ Italian defender, Luiz Felipe.
Born in Brazil, the player apparently qualifies for the Italian national team via a great-grandfather.
? Informa @marcosbenito9:
? "El Betis tiene pensado vender a Luiz Felipe al West Ham a cambio de 20 millones". pic.twitter.com/dvGgq4zrqT
— El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) June 30, 2023
The 26-year-old international has extensive Italian top-flight experience having played more than 100 games for Lazio before his switch to Betis via Salernitana.
With a career average of 88.3 pass completion success, per WhoScored, and 1.3 aerial battles won per game, Luiz Felipe could be just the dominant and ball-playing centre-back that Moyes has been crying out for.