West Ham United may be the favourites to sign free agent defender Nikola Maksimovic if new reports from The Mirror are to be believed.
The Hammers are back in the Europa League and need to fare better than they did in 2015; a penalty shootout win over Birkirkara and then crashing out to Astra Giurgiu.
Astra even dumped West Ham out a year later, and David Moyes needs to have new faces in his squad if he’s to avoid the same fate as Slaven Bilic.
Maksimovic on West Ham’s wish list
The Sunday Mirror (04/07, p77) report that West Ham have now made an offer to defender Maksimovic in the hope of signing him on a free transfer.
Maksimovic has turned down a one-year extension at Napoli. Now a free agent, Maksimovic could head to West Ham – but there’s competition.
Real Betis also want to sign Maksimovic, and have also made an offer. They’re managed by ex-West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini and could spoil the Hammers’ plans.
Maksimovic is believed to prefer a Premier League move, potentially leaving West Ham as the favourites to sign him for nothing.
Who is Nikola Maksimovic?
The 29-year-old has made his name in Italy, starring with Torino having arrived from Red Star Belgrade in 2013.
His fine displays earned him a move to Napoli, where he was branded ‘excellent’ by Carlo Ancelotti.
With 25 caps for Serbia, Maksimovic is an experienced defender who hasn’t quite lived up to the ‘new Nemanja Vidic’ tags he earned some years ago, but has seemingly done enough to catch Moyes’ eye.
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