Struggling West Ham Lines Up January Bid for SPAL Defender Francesco Vicari

Slaven Bilic's side have had a less than impressive start to the season, with four defeats in their first six.

West Ham United could be lining up a January bid for SPAL defender Francesco Vicari, according to reports from Italian media site TuttoMercatoWeb,

Slaven Bilic's side have had a less than impressive start to the season, with four defeats in their first six and the Croatian manager already seemingly has an eye on January reinforcements.

According to reports from TuttoMercatoWeb, West Ham have been sending scouts to Italy in recent weeks to watch certain players ahead of possible moves to the London Stadium in January.

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It was reported that the scouts went to watch Bologna against Internazionale, and more recently watched AC Milan and SPAL - where Vicari featured.

The 23-year-old signed for SPAL last summer and played 34 games in Serie B. After a great campaign, the centre-back managed to help his side achieve promotion to Italy's top tier.

However, SPAL are currently struggling in Serie A, finding themselves 14th after only picking up four points in six games so far this season.

The Italian's contract expires in 2019, meaning that if West Ham don't get their man in January, the Italian side could find themselves in a fragile position next summer, when he will only have a year left on his contract.