West Ham have tabled multiple “bids” for midfielders as the club look to strengthen, with ExWHUEmployee providing an update.

As has been reported previously, the club made a £30m offer to Southampton for Mateus Fernandes, which was rejected outright, however Ex advised that it was highly likely that an improved offer would be made.

Reporting on The West Ham Way Patreon, our insider has now reported that a formal improved offer has been made, with Ex also advising that a total of 4 moves have been made by the club, as the situation becomes more urgent ahead of the window closing on 31st August

“It was reported on the Podcast that we would bid again this week for Fernandes of Southampton,” stated Ex. “The valuations are a long way apart however it is hoped that the pressure from the agent and the player about wanting to leave may make Southampton we consider the fee, or at least allow us to use clauses as opposed to down payments.

“There is going to have to be significant shift in Southampton’s price tag though to get this to happen but we are thought to have increased our offer. Southampton have also been linked to signing a number of other midfielders including Eduard Spertsyan and this could be seen as forward planning for Fernandes possible departure.”

As was exclusively reported also, the club hold a firm interest in Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos, with a bid now being made to evaluate the situation. The club will await the response from bids to then decide on the next moves to make.

The club have also put forward a formal offer for Lille midfielder Ngal’ayel Mukau, with Ex advising previously that the fee for this player fits well in the clubs budget, however like others its a case of seeing how the players club responds to the offer.

Ex has also advised that the other player the club are understood to have made an move for is Marc Casadó of Barcelona.

“The other player who has recently emerged as a target is Marc Casadó of Barcelona,” added Ex. “Now the obvious question is why would he leave Barcelona for West Ham and that is perfectly valid but the club hope alongside a couple of other rivals for his signature to convince him to move to England.

“This target has been described as quite ambitious.

“As we covered on the podcast too we are also aware of some interest in a couple of French midfielders based in France too which the club are currently exploring as alternative options. One has already been named by us a target before and the other would be a new one to the list. There are also some other loan options that could be looked at as well.”

In an update on the state of play this morning, Ex has advised that early indications have shown that a bid for Santos has been rejected. However, this was always expected and these early moves are more to open dialogue with the clubs to explore whether an agreement can be reached.

“I expect we will go back again or look at other targets such as Timber at Feyenoord and other French player options if talks don’t progress.

“Carney Chukwuemeka is an also a possible target from Chelsea which we have covered on the Podcast before. As also mentioned Hayden Hackney is a possible target.”

Ex has expressed his concern by the lack of midfield signings so far and is hoping there will be positive news soon, otherwise there will be serious questions asked. We actually need to sign players now rather than seeing what is out there! Come on West Ham let’s get this done now.