West Ham United have reportedly joined the race for Adrien Silva.
According to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo, West Ham United and Crystal Palace have joined Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion in the race for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Adrien Silva.
Silva, 28, has come up through the ranks with Sporting having arrived from ARC Paco in 2002, and he has become a key first-team player following loan spells with Maccabi Haifa and Academica.
Adrien Silva
Whilst other Sporting youth products such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Cedric Soares, Joao Moutinho, Bruma and Ricardo Quaresma left the club over the years in order to further their careers, Silva has stayed loyal to the Lisbon giants.
With more than 200 appearances to his name, Silva is an important figure at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, and even serves as Sporting captain – but this summer could be the right time for him to leave.
Portuguese newspaper O Jogo report that Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion remain keen to sign Silva this summer, but Crystal Palace and West Ham United have now joined the race.
It’s claimed that Sporting would only considering selling for around €30million (£26.75million), but there is growing momentum around rumours linking Silva with a move to the Premier League.
A talented playmaker, Silva could be an upgrade on long-serving Mark Noble in the West Ham midfield and an ideal partner for the likes of Cheikhou Kouyate or Pedro Obiang in the heart of Slaven Bilic’s side.
Portugal’s Adrien Silva
Links to West Ham certainly make more sense than those to Tottenham; the Hammers have only signed players over the age of 28 this summer, going for proven quality rather than long-term potential, and Silva fits that particular bill.
Conversely, Tottenham almost exclusively target players under the age of 25 with Mauricio Pochettino at the helm, and splashing so much money on 28-year-old Silva doesn’t seem like something Spurs would do this summer.
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