West Ham United have been handed a massive boost in their pursuit of Nikola Milenkovic this week...

What's the word?

The Fiorentina colossus has been subject to interest from the Irons for several months, with ExWHUemployee confirming last month that he is a target for manager David Moyes.

"The latest is a guy called Milenkovic from Fiorentina. There is interest in him, but I don’t think they’ve put any concrete offer in for him at all, but he is on the potential radar," he said on 'The West Ham Way' podcast.

It's gone quiet since but now it seems like the door has opened for the Premier League side to strike, according to reports in Italy.

Corriere dello Sport claim La Viola will sell the 23-year-old centre-back in the coming weeks, if he does not agree to a new contract, and they have already lined up some potential replacements.

GSB must act

If these reports are to be believed, then the Hammers have to make their move.

Moyes is believed to want to add a new star centre-back to his armoury before next month's transfer deadline and the Serbian beast is a perfect candidate.

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Milenkovic has been likened to one of the Premier League's greats in Manchester United legend Nemanja Vidic, which is an encouraging sign to begin with.

"Milenkovic is better than Vidic with the ball at his feet, and he is much calmer on the field," Mozzart journalist Dejan Stankovic told ESPN FC. "He is the most talented centre-back Serbia have had since Vidic, and they definitely have one thing in common - both are fearless."

Also dubbed a "beast" his former Partizan coach Ivan Tomic, who too made the same comparison, the towering 6 foot 5 defender averaged 3.6 clearances, 1.4 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per outing in 2020/21, via WhoScored.

He even recorded a seasonal 86% passing accuracy, proving he's more than just a physically imposing presence but one that could be well-suited to the out-from-the-back way of playing in the Premier League.

GSB and the club's hierarchy must now make a move for the £22.5m-rated star now that they have been handed a very encouraging boost over his future in Italy.

They're evidently planning for the future without him, it would be foolish to not launch a bid now.

AND in other news, Moyes could seal West Ham bargain by signing £26m-rated "monster" who bullied Antonio...