By taking advantage of a €40 million (£34 million) signing for France international defender Jean-Clair Todibo, West Ham has sent a message to their Premier League rivals.
The most recent sources suggest that the Hammers have moved quickly to sign the center-back, beating out Juventus, the biggest team in Italy.
For weeks, Juventus had negotiations with OGC Nice in the hopes of signing Todibo, but the French team refused to sell to Juventus at a low price, sticking to their value.
That made room for West Ham, who, according to transfer analyst Fabrizio Romano, are optimistic that they will receive the player’s “final green light” within the next few hours.
West Ham director Tim Steidten travelled to Nice to hijack the deal, which is set to be accelerated today with the Hammers trying to book Todibo in for a medical.
Nice will receive €40m (£34m) plus a sell-on clause for the 24-year-old defender – in a deal that will initially be a loan with an obligation to buy.
It is a significant coup for West Ham, with Todibo highly-rated and wanted by many top clubs this summer, in what is a statement to their top-flight rivals.
Todibo, capped twice by the French national team, started his career in France but joined La Liga giants Barcelona five years ago.
He struggled to break into their XI and instead spent time out on loan at Schalke, Benfica and Nice before joining the latter club permanently in 2021.
Todibo has played 136 games for Nice to date, heling them reach the final of the Coupe de France in the 2021-22 season.
Where will West Ham finish in the Premier League this season?
The Premier League 2024-25 Supercomputer has predicted that West Ham will finish ninth in the table.
West Ham will be hoping to finish higher than that, though, with the east London club under fresh management after Julen Lopetegui replaced David Moyes.
They finished ninth last term – and 14th the season before – although they were focused on other competitions that year, winning the Europa Conference League.