West Ham agree £35m transfer fee for Amadou Onana after Lille rejected first two offers for Arsenal and Newcastle target
WEST HAM have finally agreed a £35million fee with Lille for midfielder Amadou Onana.
However the Hammers are still way off agreeing personal terms for the 20-year-old Belgian.
The East London club have already had TWO bids rejected for Onana this summer as manager David Moyes attempts to bolster his midfield.
West Ham have sought to act quickly to sign the highly rated player with the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle also interested.
And after several frustrating weeks, the Irons have made progress having agreed a price of £30m plus add-ons with hard-bargain negotiators Lille.
But personal terms are still a sticking issue for a player who still has four years left on his deal at the French club having only arrived from Hamburg last summer.
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Onana played 41 times for Lille last season scoring three goals, predominately being used as a defensive midfielder.
Moyes will be hopeful these terms can be sorted out over next few days but any deal is unlikely to see Onana in the squad in time to face Manchester City in their Premier League opener on Sunday.
West Ham have had a busy transfer window so far, signing Alphonse Areola, Nayef Aguerd, Flyn Downes and Gianluca Scamacca.
And they are showing no signs of stopping as they are also keen on a deal for Burnley's Maxwel Cornet.
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But the East Londoners do not want to pay his £17.5million release clause but with Everton and Nottingham Forest also keeping tabs on the player they may have to.
Cornet is seen as an alternative to Eintracht Frankfurt's Filip Kostic with West Ham set to miss out on him.
With Arthur Masuaku's loan deal to Besiktas sealed, West Ham will not to bring someone in to replace him.