According to Italian media outlet Tuttomercatoweb, West Ham United are closing in on the signing of Lazio winger Felipe Anderson for a fee of €30m (around £26.5m), which could rise to €38m (around £33.5m) in add-ons, and Newcastle United should be watching developments closely.

What's the word, then?

Well, Irons boss Manuel Pellegrini is clearly keen to significantly boost his newly-inherited squad to ensure they are challenging in the top-half of the Premier League next season, and he wants some marquee signings in at the London Stadium to help him achieve that.

The east London outfit appear to be closing in on the Brazilian, with Tuttomercato saying that his agent Kia Joorabchian, who also brokered the deal that took Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez to the club previously, has held positive meetings with Lazio and agreed a €3.5m-a-year (around £60,000-a-week) contract with West Ham.

The winger will provide some much-needed pace and skill on the flanks, and he will likely be competing with Michail Antonio, who earns £70,000-a-week according to the Daily Mail, for a spot in the starting XI on the right-hand side, although equally his arrival could throw the future of the 28-year-old former Southampton and Reading man into doubt.

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Why should Newcastle be monitoring the situation?

Well, Magpies manager Rafa Benitez is determined to strengthen his squad this summer in order to ensure they build upon their impressive 10th-place finish on their return to the Premier League last season, and he may well want to add some more players to the core of his team with top flight experience.

Antonio would certainly bring that, along with plenty of power and pace, and he would provide some real quality to the Newcastle frontline – as well as some much-needed competition for the likes of Matt Ritchie, Jacob Murphy and Christian Atsu.

The England international is also versatile and capable of playing on either wing, as a wing-back and as a centre-forward, and that is something that should certainly appeal to Benitez and the club, who could see Jonjo Shelvey walk out and Chancel Mbemba revitalised if a £30m deal goes through this summer.