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Nottingham Forest and West Ham United’s ‘interference’ has led to Real Betis’ efforts to sign Brazilian defender Vitao being stalled.

That’s according to ABC Sevilla, who say Betis have been left frustrated in their attempts to get the Brazilian defender thanks to Nottingham Forest and West Ham being involved.

The newspaper explains that Vitao is one of Betis’ main targets to strengthen their defence as they look for a replacement for Sokratis and Chadi Riad, who have both departed this summer.

They wanted to take advantage of his peculiar situation with Shakhtar Donetsk, but Internacional moved quickly to wrap up a deal for him, forcing Betis into an auction with Nottingham Forest and West Ham.

A deal had been put in place, but the ‘interference’ of the Premier League duo has made the operation difficult for the Spanish side to conclude.

That doesn’t mean Betis have completely ruled out a deal at this point, and Internacional are absolutely open to the deal if they receive €10m for the 80% of the player’s rights that they own.

Betis so far have only offered €5m for 50% of the player’s rights but are holding conversations with the Brazilian club to see if an agreement can be reached. Other clubs are doing the same, with it claimed Nottingham Forest are the main competition.

West Ham don’t get a mention on that front but their interest, and apparent determination to sign Brazilians this summer, has them in the mix too.