West Ham have had offers for Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha and Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire rejected as the club look to kickstart their post-Declan Rice spending spree.
The Hammers have had a bid worth up to £45million for Palhinha knocked back by Fulham, while a loan offer for Maguire has also been turned down.
David Moyes has money to spend this summer after Rice completed his £105m move to Arsenal over the weekend.
The Scot plans to sign two midfielders to replace the England international, with Palhinha a leading target, alongside Ajax’s Edson Alvarez and Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse.
However, Fulham are under no pressure to sell the Portuguese, who enjoyed a superb first season in English football after signing from Sporting last summer, and value the midfielder at more than £80m.
Maguire could leave Old Trafford this summer, having been stripped of the captaincy by Erik ten Hag and told he is no longer part of the Dutchman’s plans.
The England defender needs regular playing time to keep his place alongside John Stones heading into next summer’s European Championship, but United are hoping to boost their own transfer kitty by selling a player who cost them £80m four years ago.
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West Ham would, however, prefer a loan deal, with a permanent signing deemed an expensive risk given the 30-year-old’s age and wage demands.
Moyes is already well stocked at centre-half, with Kurt Zouma and last summer’s new signing Nayef Aguerd having developed a promising partnership towards the back end of last season.
Both, however, have been dogged by injury problems and there is a significant drop-off to Moyes’ other options, with Angelo Ogbonna now 35 and Thilo Kehrer seen to better effect at right-back.
