Contact made: West Ham now in talks for "spectacular" £16m deal, it'd be a major coup – opinion

West Ham look set to get their summer transfer business up and running with a deal for Atletico Mineiro left-back Guilherme Arana.

That’s according to Brazilian journalist Jorge Nicola (via Sport Witness), who has stated that the Hammers have made contact ahead of a potential swoop for the 25-year-old. Although no bid has yet been submitted, the Premier League club have made Arana’s staff aware of their interest in the player.

Atletico Mineiro insider Fred Augusto has claimed that the fee to sign Arana will be around €19m (£16m).

Moyes led West Ham to a wonderful 2021/22 campaign and he will be looking to build on that over the summer by improving his squad.

Signing a top-class left-back will likely be one of the Scot’s main priorities this summer. Aaron Cresswell is 32 and, with his peak years behind him, perhaps it’s time for a replacement to be sought.

At 25 years of age, Arana still arguably has his peak years to come, and signing him for £16m would likely represent an excellent coup by the Irons.

The Brazilian has scored an impressive 19 goals and registered 28 assists in his career so far, which indicates that he loves to get forward and contribute in an attacking sense, and this is something that Moyes will love.

Arana represented Brazil at the Olympic Games last year, where his nation won the gold medal and he ranked as the squad’s fourth-best performer, with a ranking of 7.17 on SofaScore.

These performances translated into the defender making his senior international debut against Venezuela last October, and he has gone on to win two more caps in the meantime.

A move to the Premier League could well suit the left-back. He was described as “spectacular” by Brazil’s Olympic coach Andre Jardine following his