Premier League side West Ham United are preparing to submit a €22m offer for West Bromwich Albion attacker Matheus Pereira, according to journalist Pedro Almeida.
The Hammers have been interested in a move for the 25-year-old since the start of the summer, with Manchester United's Jesse Lingard linking back up with Ole Gunnar Solskjear's side in pre-season and unlikely to return to the London Stadium after this loan spell.
Along with David Moyes' side, Leicester City, Leeds United and Bundesliga side RB Leipzig were also reported to be interested in luring the Brazilian away from The Hawthorns this summer, with the Baggies being consigned to Championship football next season following their relegation.
However, Pereira proved to be one of their shining lights in the West Midlands as he recorded 11 goals and six assists, an impressive set of statistics considering how much West Brom struggled under Slaven Bilic and Sam Allardyce last term as they finished 19th in the table and 13 points away from safety.
He now wants to secure a permanent move away from The Hawthorns, with his current side agreeing not to play him in pre-season friendlies in his quest to do that.
The Baggies' current valuation of the 25-year-old stands at £30m, with the Brazilian still having three years left on his current deal in the West Midlands after signing a permanent four-year contract last summer.
The Verdict:
€22m is around £18.7m, which is a decent sum of money but not quite in the region where West Brom can come to the negotiating table and finalise a deal just yet, because they will want at least £20m before even thinking about selling him.
However, they do need to cash in on him this summer considering the fact he's actively pushing for a move and if a bid of around £20m-£25m arrives, they could potentially negotiate added bonuses and a sell-on clause to financially benefit them in the future.
But they do need to be careful with how David Moyes' side may want to structure the deal.
A good chunk of the cash will be needed up front so Valerien Ismael can continue to strengthen his side ahead of the new season, so they shouldn't settle for a deal that includes quite a few different instalments and little financial reward this summer.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the 25-year-old, but this is a much better bid than Al-Hilal's and if the Hammers can add at least a few more millions to this deal, then it's time for West Brom's board to start taking them seriously.