West Ham set to beat Crystal Palace to Flynn Downes transfer as Swansea ace nears medical

West Ham look set to beat Premier League rivals Crystal Palace to the signing of Swansea City midfielder Flynn Downes.

The Hammers are due to complete the second part of Downes’ medical on Thursday morning, having already completed the first portion on Wednesday ahead of a proposed £9million transfer, that could rise to £12million with add-ons.

Patrick Vieira and Palace were at one stage believed to be leading the race for the 23-year-old, who is a lifelong West Ham fan, but failed to get a deal over the line before the Irons struck one with Swansea.

Downes is now set to become David Moyes ’ third signing of the summer transfer window following the arrivals of Morocco centre-back Nayef Aguerd from Rennes and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola on a permanent deal from Paris Saint-Germain following a successful loan spell at the London Stadium last season.

Moyes’ decision to boost his ranks in central midfield comes following the retirement of club captain Mark Noble at the end of the 2021/22 campaign and the departure of Alex Kral following his unsuccessful loan spell. Downes will now compete with Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek, as well whoever else the Hammers can bring in during the rest of the window, with Moyes still hoping to add another central midfield player in addition to Downes.

For Palace, they have now seemingly been beaten to two targets in a matter of days, with Rangers’ Joe Aribo now looking like he’ll be joining Ralph Hasenhuttl and Southampton rather than coming to south London. The Eagles have so far signed former Derby teenager Malcolm Ebiowei and England international goalkeeper Sam Johnstone on free transfers and have agreed on a deal worth up to £22million with Lens for 22-year-old midfielder Cheick