Italian Serie A side Sassuolo are confident of being able to sign Pedro Obiang, but must wait until West Ham United return from their Asia tour.
Manuel Pellegrini's Hammers are currently in China and preparing for their third place playoff in the Premier League Asia Trophy against Newcastle United.
Obiang featured in West Ham's earlier Premier League Asia Trophy loss against Manchester City, with the midfielder fully involved in the Hammers' pre-season preparations.
Sassuolo want to take Obiang back to Italy, where he played for Sampdoria, and have been in talks to make a deal happen.
They have now all but secured Obiang, according to Italian daily the Gazzetta di Modena, but will have to wait until West Ham return from their pre-season tour to seal the deal.
It is claimed that Sassuolo have near enough wrapped up the deal and Obiang will be heading back to Serie A.
The midfielder has been regularly linked with a return to Italy in recent years, but West Ham have not been keen to let him go.
Obiang, 27, still has a contract which has another three years to run at the London Stadium.
