West Ham United have struck a deal in principle to sign Chelsea target Gedson Fernandes on loan from Portuguese giants Benfica, according to Sky Sports News (12:47pm).
The 20-year-old has been a bit-part player at Benfica this season, despite how highly he is rated, and has been linked with a move to the Premier League this month.
West Ham and Chelsea recently tabled competing loan bids with obligatory purchase options and were pushing to land the midfielder in January.
The Hammers made a further move and earlier today it emerged that they had put in a revised 18-month loan bid with no purchase option attached.
And it seems that has done the trick as they have agreed a deal in principle with Benfica to sign the Portuguese midfielder this month.
If the deal goes through, Fernandes will join West Ham in the coming days on a loan deal until the end of next season.
West Ham will now have to agree personal terms with the player and his representatives and put him through a medical before signing him.
It remains to be seen whether Chelsea make a counter bid to thwart West Ham’s ambition to sign Fernandes.
