Skip to main content

Report: West Ham Considering Making a Move for Benfica Midfielder

  • Author:
  • Publish date:

West Ham are looking to bring in a new defensive midfielder before the close of the window and, according to reports, have identified a serial league title winner as their main target.

Slaven Bilic has overseen the recruitment of Javier Hernandez, Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta and Marko Arnautovic so far this summer. But the Hammers have lost both of their opening Premier League fixtures this season, despite Chicahrito's brace against Southampton on the weekend.

The club have now turned their attention to Benfica's Ljubomir Fejsa, per Correio da Manha (H/T Sportwitness). The midfielder hasn't lost out in the race for a league title since 2008, winning 10 consecutive league titles across Serbia, Greece and Portugal since then.

Fejsa, also known as 'Mr Success' won the Serbian SuperLiga three consecutive years with FK Partizan before moving to Olympiacos, where he also won three successive league titles. Since moving to Benfica in 2013, the 29-year-old has won the Portuguese Premeira Liga on all four tries.

The player is also a reported target for Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham. The now Wembley-based side were said to have turned to the Benfica man after failing to sign Adrien Silva following a £17.9m bid earlier this summer.

Pochettino has also started the season in disappointing fashion, albeit winning his first match. The Argentinian watched his side lose 2-1 to Premier League title holders Chelsea on the weekend. And having failed to make a single signing thus far, the manager is still scouring the market for potential recruits.

The general feeling, though, is that if Fejsa signs for either of the London sides, he will miss out on his first league title in 11 years.