Aston Villa to sign West Ham's James Collins

31 August 2009 18:43
On a busy day for West Ham the Premier League club sold Savio Nsereko to Fiorentina for £3 million. They will also receive 50 per cent of any sell-on for the German under-21 international who arrived at Upton Park in January, from Brescia, but has failed to make an impact. In return West Ham have signed the Portuguese central defender Manuel Da Costa. The 23 year-old will replace Collins in the squad with James Tompkins expected to step up and become Upson's regular partner in central defence. West Ham rejected an £8 million from Fiorentina for Upson on Sunday but continued negotiations with the Italian club after they also expressed an interest in Savio. The striker could have become West Ham's record signing his fee was set to rise to £9 million had incentives and targets been met but he has failed to make the first-team squad. It appears that West Ham have now pretty much recouped their initial outlay for Savio. His reputation has remained intact in Italy while Da Costa, who has also played for PSV Eindhoven, has previously been included in the full Portugal squad. The move for Da Costa who arrives for free ends West Ham's interest in another Portuguese defender, Wolfsburg's Ricardo Costa who they had discussed taking on loan. There has been interest in Upson throughout the summer with Villa, Manchester City and Everton also making inquiries for the 30-year-old England international while Liverpool met West Ham's £15 million asking price only for their bankers to pull the plug on the deal. With the sale of Collins, a 26-year-old Welsh international, to Villa and Savio's departure, West Ham do not need to sell any more players and will reject any deadline-day offers for their captain should any be received. West Ham have signed Alessandro Diamanti from Livorno for £6 million and remain in the market for taking another striker on loan before the window closes. They remain interested in Bordeaux's Marouane Chamakh but will not sign him this summer.

Source: Telegraph