West Ham United are closing in on a young south American starlet…

What’s the latest?

As per 90min, the Hammers have now agreed on a deal to sign Sao Paolo’s highly-rated defender Luizao.

Despite having been monitored by several European clubs, it seems head of recruitment Rob Newman has beaten out the likes of Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, Porto, Fulham, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Juventus to his signature.

The Irons had offered to pay the Brazilian club a fee for the 20-year-old before his contract officially ends, but the rejection of this means he will now leave at the conclusion of the January transfer window.

New Zouma

What will interest fans most is that the report also details the expectation that he will immediately be integrated into the first-team squad.

Clearly, Moyes has high hopes for this young talent and expects him to acclimatise to the Premier League with ease.

Should he boast the quality expected, perhaps he could be their new Kurt Zouma following his recent knee surgery.

In what has been his breakout season, the 6 foot 2 goliath must have impressed over his limited 26 senior appearances for his hometown club to attract such widespread attention.

Boasting a swagger and comfort on the ball, Luizao was labelled “super confident” by journalist Jorge Nicola and will need this belief to succeed in a new country.

However, his performances do suggest he could actually take English football by storm.

Having recorded a respectable 6.79 rating across the Brasileiro Serie A, he has averaged an immense 3.8 clearances alongside 1.0 tackles and 0.7 interceptions, via Sofascore.

This is then paired with an 88% pass accuracy, suggesting that he could lend a big hand in any transitional play Moyes would hope to implement.

His statistics somewhat mirror that of Zouma’s, who also excels when it comes to clearances and averages 86% pass accuracy.

With the Frenchman expected to be out for the foreseeable future, a long-term successor is needed for the 28-year-old.

In fast-tracking this young Brazilian to the Premier League, Moyes could instantly get to work on moulding him into the defender he needs him to be at the London Stadium.

Should he perform as admirably as he has done in his homeland, he could end up being a raging success right from the start, thanks to Newman's swift and early business ahead of January.