West Ham’s Edmilson Fernandes is expected to complete a loan move to Serie A side Fiorentina, according to Sky Sports Italy journalist Gianluca di Marzio.
The Sky reporter claimed on his personal website that Fiorentina are closing in on the Swiss midfielder for a six-figure loan fee worth £810,000 with the option to buy the 22-year-old outright for £7.2million next year.
Fernandes had also attracted interest from Sampdoria but is likely to be heading to Italian neighbours Fiorentina instead.
The midfielder was signed by Slaven Bilic from Swiss club FC Sion in 2016 and has made a total 42 league appearances for the London club along with gaining four national caps for Switzerland.
OPINION
Getting rid of Fernandes could turn out to be a decision which backfires for West Ham and they may want to think about keeping the midfielder and reject a permanent move to Italy. The Swiss midfielder may not yet be the finished article after failing to make an memorable impact in the English top flight, but if he does fulfil his potential then there is little doubting that he would be an asset to almost every side. The Swiss international is an athletic player who has been able to fill in a number of other positions for West Ham, proving to be a valuable asset when relied upon. He only managed to make 14 league appearances last season after enduring an unfortunate ankle injury at the start of the year and had been sidelined from first-team action. However, the Hammers will be hoping that Fernandes does not make them live to regret letting him go, if he does depart this summer.
