Made official by the Italian club to a certain extent on Wednesday, Marcelo Bielsa is pretty much Lazio’s new manager, and one of his priorities is a new forward.
Top of his list appears to be former Chelsea striker Alexandre Pato, while a more realistic target for now remains Enner Valencia, currently contracted to West Ham.
We covered early reports of this on Monday, originally from Corriere dello Sport, and La Repubblica keep the belief going on Thursday with an article on their website.
The Italian newspaper claim the deal with the London club to bring the Ecuadorian to Rome is ‘progressing well’, with West Ham having accepted a paid loan with a view to buy arrangement.
However, while the Hammers may have accepted the outline of the deal, the full amount needs to be ironed out, with Lazio prepared to offer £2m initially with a further £9.4m later.
West Ham, on the other hand, are hoping for around £11m as a further fee.
This seems to be going along nicely, and considering how bit part Valencia was for Slaven Bilic last season, the Premier League club will be glad to recoup most of the £12.75m they spent on him in the first place.
