West Ham are preparing for a busy last few days of the transfer window.
The deadline falls on October 5, or next Monday for those who don’t wish to check their calendars.
Thus far, the Hammers haven’t been all that active, though they did complete their second first-team signing of the window on Friday. Firstly, they brought in Tomas Soucek on a permanent deal after his initial loan, and they have now signed Vladimir Coufal.
The right-back moves from Slavia Prague, signing a three-year contract after the two clubs agreed a £5.4m fee.
And now it appears that they are trying to sign a midfielder.
That may come as a surprise, given that the really pressing need, as admitted by manager David Moyes, comes in central defence.
But even still, it appears that the Irons are hoping to bring in a player from Barcelona.
Sport Witness carries a report from Mundo Deportivo claiming that Rafinha has been identified as a target, though they face competition from Italian side Torino.
Ronald Koeman, the new Barca manager, is said to have told Rafinha that he will not be using him much this season, and that has alerted potential suitors.
He spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Celta Vigo and West Ham are said to have “asked” about the prospect of signing him.
He is valued at €16m (£14.4m) and has a contract that runs until 2021, meaning this could be the final window in which Barcelona can receive a proper fee for him.
Rafinha has made a total of 90 appearances for Barca but one feels that the time has come for him to move on after he was left out of the squad altogether for their La Liga win over his former loan club Celta last time out. Barca won 3-0 without him.
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
It really feels like the Hammers have their priorities wrong.
Even Moyes has said that he needs defenders, not midfielders, but here we are, again seeing the Irons linked with a midfielder.
If there is £14.4m in the bank to spend on a new player, that needs to be funnelled towards a new centre-back.
They are short in that area and have seen attempts to sign James Tarkowski from Burnley and Nikola Milenkovic from Fiorentina fail.
With the window set to slam shut soon, this feels like a distraction, instead of a sensible transfer.