West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest are set to battle it out for the signing of Colombian superstar. 

Richard Rios was a name that was mentioned a lot in West Ham circles last summer and he could be back on the clubs radar this time out as the Hammers are involved in a three-way Premier League chase for the Palmeiras midfielder.

The 24-year-old has established himself as one of the most highly sought-after players in South America since breaking out at the 2024 Copa America. The midfielder was also arguably more important to the Palmeiras team last season than the exciting front three that all earned moves to Europe.

Endrick earned a blockbuster move to Real Madrid, Estêvão earned a £30m move to Chelsea, while Luis Guilherme sealed a move to West Ham United. While Rios is five/six years senior of those players and definitely doesn’t have the same potential as those three, he is certainly more ready to make an impact now.

Guilherme could already be set to depart the Hammers after just over half a season, and a return to Brazil looks like most likely. There were clubs in the Netherlands and France reportedly keen on taking him on loan in January but a deal didn’t happen, but the window in Brazil is still open till February 28th meaning there is still over two weeks left for Brazilian clubs to strike a deal with West Ham.

As for Rios, it’s probably clear that Guilherme won’t be putting in a great word about the club to his former teammate and that could be a huge problem if Potter really wants to make a move for the player. However, that might not be the biggest obstacle in the way of Rios turning out in claret and blue next season. Palmeiras do not want to let their midfield anchor go, and he has a release clause of 100m Euros which the Hammers, Spurs or Forest won’t want to pay.

Realistically, it would probably cost upwards of £45m to bring the midfielder to the Premier League with is contract expiring in three years, a huge amount of money to spend on someone so experienced. In contrast, Moises Caicedo cost Graham Potter and Kyle Macauley just £4.5m at Brighton.

Rather than spending money on someone like Richard Rios I think me and and plenty of other fans would love for us to go out and sign some players in the mould of Caicedo that would decrease the average age of the squad and also have the potential to become what Caicedo went on to become and earn the club £100m in profit to improve elsewhere.