West Ham have agreed a €28m (£24m) fee with Juventus for Simone Zaza, with the Italy striker set to fly to England on Friday for his medical after agreeing personal terms.
Zaza, who missed a penalty for Italy in their penalty shootout defeat to Germany in the Euro 2016 quarter-final, has been a long-term target for West Ham, who have seen numerous attempts to sign a frontline striker fail to materialise this summer.
A £31.5m bid for Michy Batshuayi was accepted by Marseille before the Belgium international opted to join Chelsea instead, while Milan’s Carlos Bacca rejected the chance to join Slaven Bilic’s side.
Having initially made contact with Juventus in June, co-chairman David Sullivan stepped up negotiations with the Italian champions this week after Andy Carroll was ruled out for up to six weeks and record signing Andre Ayew was told he was unlikely to play again this year. A club record fee of €28m including add-ons has now been accepted by Juventus, who had also been in talks with German side Wolfsburg over Zaza.
The 25-year-old is now understood to have agreed the terms of his contract at the London Stadium and will complete his medical on Friday. Zaza joined Juventus from Sassuolo last summer for €18m and scored five goals in 19 Serie A appearances last season.
“I don’t know the details, but we were in talks and it was quite close,” West Ham manager Slaven Bilic said on Thursday. “I would love it to happen.”
Earlier on Thursday, West Ham announced the signing of Swiss midfielder Edimilson Fernandes from FC Sion for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £5.5m. The 20-year-old was introduced on the pitch of the London Stadium prior to the Europa League qualifier against Romanians Astra Giurgiu.
West Ham were beaten 1-0 to exit the competition to their Romanian opponents for the second season in succession.