Everton and West Ham both reportedly interested in £23m Dennis Praet

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Sampdoria’s Dennis Praet could move to the Premier League from Serie A this summer with Everton and West Ham chasing the Belgian midfielder.

In August last year, The Times stated that Everton were hoping to sign Sampdoria’s £18.5 million-rated midfielder Dennis Praet.

And, after another fine season in Serie A with the Genoa-based club, it seems that the Belgian international is still on The Toffees’ radar.

Calciomercato report that Everton are still interested, and have now been joined by a West Ham side who have been linked with a whole host of central midfielders since all the way back to the January transfer window.

24-year-old Praet, a one-time Anderlecht starlet who joined Sampdoria back in 2016, made 30 starts in Italy’s top flight last season but posted a far from impressive tally of one goal and three assists.

But it is his dynamic, box-to-box approach and intelligent positioning, rather than a direct influence inside the box, that appears to have a number of big European sides tracking his signature.

Gazzetta dello Sport (4^th May, page 12) reported that Juventus, Sevilla and Roma are all interested too while it is understood that Praet’s price-tag has risen slightly due to a £23 million release clause in his contract.

Interestingly, both Everton and West Ham sacked their managers, Sam Allardyce and David Moyes, this week so it remains to be seen who is driving this deal.