West Ham close to completing £34m signing of star whose transfer to Man Utd was 99 percent done

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed West Ham are on the cusp of completing the permanent signing of a player who came within an eyelash of joining Manchester United earlier this year.

The summer window was a monumental one for West Ham, with no fewer than NINE first-team players arriving.

Signing up in permanent deals were Wes Foderingham, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Max Kilman, Guido Rodriguez, Luis Guilherme, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug.

Joining those seven players in the English capital were loanees Jean-Clair Todibo and Carlos Soler.

Todibo, 24, had initially looked on course to sign with Man Utd. The French centre-back was earmarked as an ideal addition at the heart of defence and the fact French side Nice share the same INEOS ownership with Man Utd appeared to make the move simpler.

However, UEFA blocked Man Utd from completing a deal that Fabrizio Romano reported was 99 percent done.