West Ham completed the agreement to sign James Ward-Prowse for £30m.
Personal terms verbally agreed upon, time to prepare and check documents soon. He leaves relegated Southampton back to Premier League.
Medical is to be booked this week, as transfer correspondent Jacob Steinberg reported. West Ham agree £30m deals to sign Harry Maguire and James Ward-Prowse
Lucas Paquetá will lobby his club to allow the Brazil midfielder to sign with Manchester City, who are contemplating an offer to acquire him. Paquetá is thinking about joining the triple champions, and Pep Guardiola is trying to bolster the midfield.
The club has already traded Declan Rice and does not want to lose another important player. They have made deals in principle to buy the Manchester United defender Harry Maguire and the Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse for £30 million apiece.
They rejected City’s original offer for Paquetá because they felt it fell short of what they were looking for, but the European champions are anticipated to come back with a £70 million bid.
The expectation is that Flynn Downes will leave the camp and join Southampton on loan. A previous suggestion was Downes would be linked to the JWP deal.
West Ham deal
Lucas Paqueta has an £85m release clause that becomes active next summer. He is pushing to leave West Ham this month. Manchester City is keen on West Ham’s Lucas Paquetá and weighs up £70m bid.
The story on that and West Ham’s agreeing fee with United for Maguire was published in Guardian. Maguire agreement was first reported by the Athletic respondent Laurie Whitwell.
West Ham have turned away an initial approach from City for Paqueta and are determined not to sell.
Since selling Rice, West Ham has made little progress, but this week, things are moving more quickly. They are prepared to recruit midfielder Edson Alvarez from Ajax for £32 million, and they also plan to add Ward-Prowse for £30 million.
Additionally, Moyes needs a centre-back and has persuaded the board to sign Maguire. West Ham and Maguire will talk about personal terms after reaching an agreement in principle on a £30 million transfer price. The 30-year-old needs to make a move to attempt to safeguard his England spot because Erik ten Hag, who has stripped him of the leadership, has made him unpopular.
The fact that Maguire, whose contract with the club continues until 2025, earned a large pay rise as a consequence of United’s Champions League qualification is one significant roadblock for West Ham. In order to make sure that they and United can pay for any possible gap in Maguire’s pay, West Ham has been looking for a solution.
The signings of Maguire and Ward-Prowse will be seen as the club’s support for Moyes. The Scot and Tim Steidten, West Ham’s new technical director, have clashed over objectives. While Steidten has been focusing on younger players in Europe, Moyes has been advocating for established Premier League players.
