West Ham United transfer news as club sources deny £17m deal for Denis Zakaria

West Ham will not be signing Juventus ace Denis Zakaria for £17million (€20m) on Monday (10 July), according to Claret and Hugh.

The publication have been forced to deny that a deal is expected to be completed for the midfielder, with TuttoSport (8 July) making the claim that he is close to officially joining the Hammers.

But Claret and Hugh sources have reported that the claim is not true, with the Hammers appearing only to have a moderate interest in the player.

“West Ham United will not be bringing Swiss international Denis Zakaria to the club on Monday in a deal reported to be worth £17million,” according to Claret and Hugh.

“The story that we were claiming to sign the Juventus midfielder has been doing the rounds for several weeks but the Hammers appear to have only a moderate interest in him.

“He was thought to be one of the major signings the club would make over the transfer window but our source explained that is not the case.

“Our top source explained: ‘We are of course aware of all the rumours concerning the player but they are not true.’”

West Ham supporters were perhaps getting excited at the idea of bringing in a new face this summer, but Claret and Hugh have quickly quashed that excitement with this latest update.

It’s clear that the Hammers will be in need of a new defensive midfielder upon the impending exit of club captain Declan Rice, but for now, that replacement is not Juventus man Zakaria, who spent last season in England with West London outfit Chelsea.

The Hammers perhaps need to officially sell Rice to Arsenal before sanctioning any incoming, but they are, of course, at least allowed to look at potential replacements for their beloved midfielder.

Some supporters may, however, be getting a bit anxious about the lack of movement at the London Stadium in the summer transfer window as the new Premier League season rapidly approaches.

It will be near-impossible to replace Rice, but any new face will be better than none at all as the club look to challenge on all fronts next time out.