West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo is desperate to add some bite into his centre midfield this summer, following last year’s disappointing Premier League season.

The Hammers cannot continue to rely upon the legs of 31-year-old Tomas Soucek to do the heavy work, while 20-year-old talent Mohamadou Kanté still needs nurturing and academy graduate Freddie Potts is set for a move to Belgium.

The bright spark last season was former Southampton man Mateus Fernandes, who has now joined Tottenham Hotspur for a lofty £85 million. That money must be reinvested in the midfield and West Ham appear to know their number one target in Celtic star Arne Engels.

Nottingham Forest rival West Ham for midfielder

West Ham are in talks with Celtic over the transfer move. Engels is known to have interest from a number of Premier League sides, with Nottingham Forest having had multiple offers rejected by the Glasgow giants on Deadline Day in February.

Forest are desperately browsing the market for a new midfielder, and could once again return for Engels, but the priority target at the City Ground is currently Tottenham Hotspur man Lucas Bergvall.

At this stage, it is the Hammers who are frontrunners for a deal. Engels has another two years left to run on his Celtic contract but Hoops boss Marin O’Neill confirmed this week that a bid had been submitted for the player. The veteran manager claimed the offer didn’t ‘remotely meet their valuation’.

Celtic set Arne Engels asking price

Having cashed in on Fernandes, as well as earning £68million through the sale of Crysencio Summerville, West Ham are in something of a comfortable position financially.

ExWHUEmployee claims that Celtic will demand £25million to green light an exit for Engels which, despite reported competition from Premier League clubs, feels a realistic fee for the Hammers.

West Ham are yet to cough up a significant transfer fee this summer, with the only outlay being the £1million spent on under-21 star Keiber Lamadrid from Deportivo La Guaira.

Celtic paid £11million to sign Engels from Augsburg in the summer of 2024, in what was a club record transfer fee. The midfielder has gone on to make 98 appearances for the club. He could play for O’Neill in the Scottish Premiership opening fixture on Monday night, when Dundee visit Celtic.