West Ham United are reportedly keen on signing Erick Pulgar.
According to Canal de Futbol in Chile, West Ham United are interested in signing Bologna midfielder Erick Pulgar – but only as a replacement for Declan Rice.
The Hammers have splashed the cash on Pablo Fornals and Sebastien Haller, meaning Manuel Pellegrini may need to ship a few players out.
Rice looks unlikely to leave at this stage, with Manchester United rumours dying down, but just in case there’s a late twist in the tale, West Ham appear to have their contingency plan.
It’s believed that West Ham have identified Pulgar as the man to replace Rice if he does suddenly go, with Manuel Pellegrini keen on his compatriot.
Pulgar, 25, has impressed with Bologna in Serie A as a strong and relentless midfielder with a decent passing range, which has attracted major interest.
Calciomercato recently noted that Pulgar can be signed for a bargain €12million (£10.8million), and is wanted by the likes of Arsenal, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Napoli, Roma and Sevilla.
Those are major clubs to contend with, but Pellegrini would surely hope that a Chilean player would love to work under him at the London Stadium.
A move is far from imminent, but at least West Ham appear to have a player in mind just in case Rice goes – and they’ll now hope no other clubs activate that €12million release clause.
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