West Ham United were reportedly keen on Vitoria Guimaraes winger Raphinha.
According to Calciomercato, West Ham United were interested in landing Vitoria Guimaraes winger Raphinha this summer before losing out to Sporting earlier this week.
The Hammers appointed Manuel Pellegrini as their new manager this week, replacing David Moyes as the former Premier League title winner returns to English football after a two-year exile.
Pellegrini will immediately want major reinforcements for a squad which struggled last season, and adding another winger may be a top priority for the Chilean.Now, Calciomercato report that West Ham held an interest in snapping up Vitoria Guimaraes winger Raphinha, who enjoyed a remarkable campaign over in Portugal.
Raphinha, 21, emerged in his native Brazil with Avai, before heading to Vitoria in 2016, and he enjoyed a breakout campaign this season, hitting 18 goals and six assists in 43 games.
The Brazilian star has blistering pace and great trickery, and has now been snapped up by their Portuguese rivals Sporting, who confirmed a deal earlier this week.
Raphinha will have a €60million (£53million) release clause in his contract, meaning West Ham appear to have missed the boat on the Brazilian – and will hope that it doesn’t come back to bite them.
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