[ad_pod ]West Ham recently confirmed the signing of Pablo Fornals but he's by no means the only midfielder allegedly on the club's radar this summer. Indeed, Hammers insider ExWHUemployee recently tweeted that talks regarding Newcastle midfielder Isaac Hayden are ongoing.

Hayden impressed in the Premier League last season during what felt like a real coming-of-age campaign, but what have the experts said about the Newcastle midfielder? Here's a look at three verdicts from those who know Hayden probably as well as anyone - his current and former managers...

Rafa Benitez – Newcastle manager

"When he got his chance, he was professional, he worked hard. Even in January when we were taking with him about the possibility if something could happen in terms of players coming, I told him, ‘If we don’t sign any midfielders you have to stay, we will try to do the best for everyone'. He was professional until the last day and he has done really well."

With Hayden being part of the Newcastle first-team for some time and being one of the first signings Rafa Benitez made at the club, it is understandable that the Spaniard was full of praise for the former Arsenal man.

The 2005 Champions League winner has long been an admirer of Hayden and as quoted by The Chronicle in February of this year, the former Real Madrid boss praised the midfielder heavily for his professionalism despite seeking an exit to be closer to his family.

Arsene Wenger - Former Arsenal manager

"At 21 years of age, you need to play or you stand still - and if you stand still you waste your career. He’s very intelligent and very good physically as well, he has good strength. I remember some games he played, like at West Brom in the League Cup where he did extremely well, and I gave him a chance to go up to Hull."

Having come through the ranks at Arsenal, it is surprising to see a player of Hayden’s quality slip through the cracks at the London club, but then manager Arsene Wenger had his reasons for allowing the Essex-born midfielder to leave.

Speaking to Arsenal’s official website after Hayden’s loan move to Hull in, Wenger claimed the move was necessary for the betterment of the midfielder’s career, which would had been wasted with the Gunners with so much talent ahead of him in the pecking order. Wenger though pointed out his physicality an intelligence - two traits that are still key to Hayden's game.

Pep Guardiola – Manchester City manager

"We could not deal with Newcastle’s holding midfielders. We started with the goal but we didn't have the rhythm we need to impose our game. We didn't take the rhythm of the game, it was slow and we weren't aggressive enough."

When Newcastle surprised the world by beating Manchester City 2-1 at St. James' Park, it looked like Benitez's side had just shaken up the status-quo of the Premier League table as, at the time, it put the title firmly in Liverpool's hands.

But even in defeat, fellow former Champions League winner Pep Guardiola still acknowledged that on the day his side were not the better team and that Hayden and Sean Longstaff were two players City couldn't handle in the midfield as quoted per the Chronicle. If you can keep arguably the best midfield in the world at bay, you must be doing something right.