OPINION
West Ham must hijack Newcastle United’s attempts to sign Lille enforcer Thiaga Maia after it was reported that the Magpies had made an offer for the Brazilian defensive midfielder.
French news outlet Le 10 Sport had reported that Newcastle’s bid was swiftly rejected by the Ligue 1 club, who made it very clear that the 21-year-old was not for sale at any price.
However that simply is not true as every players has their price, and that’s where West Ham must come in to blow their Premier League rivals out of the water to sign Thiago Maia, as they clearly have the financial power to pull off such a move.
Newcastle’s budget is more than likely going to be low this summer with Mike Ashley not looking as though he is about to loosen his grip on finances any time soon, and the fact that the Tyneside club has bid for Thiaga Maia proves that his value should be that of something in West Ham’s range.
La Voix de Nord has reported that the former Santos star has a release clause in his deal at Lille, which is worth between £52.7million and £70.3million, but given the fact that the Ligue 1 club only paid £12.3million for him last year and they are not exactly blessed in the financial department, they will no doubt be willing to let him go for much less.
The Hammers need a top-quality defensive midfielder this summer and Thiago Maia will be the perfect addition to Manuel Pellegrini’s squad.
It may be a costly deal, but it will certainly be one that will solve what has been a constant problem area at the London Stadium for the past couple of seasons.