West Ham United have done decent transfer business during the summer and the fact that they have already added the likes of Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena to their squad made many believe that Pellegrini will not be going after any more centre-backs.
Now though it seems that the former Man City manager has decided he needs to buy one more defender before the start of the new season and reports suggest that he is looking to the Serie A for answers.
According to French publication L’Equipe, the Hammers have shown an increasing interest in Torino defender Nicolas Nkoulou.
Nkoulou joined Torino last summer on a season-long loan deal from Ligue 1 side Lyon and he ended up being voted as the best player of the 2017-18 as voted by the fans. So the Serie A outfit wasted no time in making the deal permanent for a fee of around €3.5 million.
But it seems that Nicolas Nkoulou performances last season have caught the eye of many a number of European clubs and if the report is to be believed then La Liga side Sevilla have already placed a bid for the 28-year-old.
Nicolas Nkoulou est la priorité du FC Séville en défense centrale https://t.co/mJDw6h3fkH pic.twitter.com/mAAA6KDCry
— ⭐ L'ÉQUIPE ⭐ (@lequipe) July 19, 2018
Torino though are in no mood to part ways with the Cameroon international and have swiftly rejected the bid. But rumours suggest that Sevilla are expected to return with a second bid in the coming weeks.
Apart from West Ham United and Sevilla, Newcastle United have also been linked with the defender as Rafa Benitez is yet to sign a centre-back this summer.
Last season the Magpies had a very formidable partnership in defence in the form of Jamaal Lascelles and Florian Lejeune but the manager feels that he needs to add a bit more competition in that area.
As things stand, Sevilla seem to be leading the race to sign Nicolas Nkoulou from Torino but the opportunity to play in the Premier League could easily draw the defender out of Italy.
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