London Evening Standard journalist Alex Young has dropped a transfer update involving West Ham United and Manchester City's Oleksandr Zinchenko.

The lowdown

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta wants to add Zinchenko to his ranks this summer, and they appear to be leading the race.

Arteta may have an advantage in the race because he used to work as an assistant to Pep Guardiola at City. Indeed, he has already been able to lure striker Gabriel Jesus from The Etihad to The Emirates.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal have reached a verbal agreement over a £30m transfer fee, but it doesn't seem to be finalised yet.

There is still a 'key step' for the Gunners to complete - agreeing on a salary and the length of a deal - and that means West Ham have time to act.

The latest

Young writes that, along with Arsenal, the Irons are 'also admirers' of the Ukrainian.

And like the north London outfit, they're 'offering' him more first-team minutes than he currently gets at City, which is his main reason for potentially moving.

The verdict

There's a compelling case for West Ham to swoop in and match the £30m City have accepted for Zinchenko.

That would then mean it was effectively down to the player to choose his next destination.

Zinchenko can operate as a left-back and a central midfielder, but he'd been competing with the likes of Kieran Tierney, Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard and Fabio Vieira at Arsenal.

There may be a clearer path into the side at the London Stadium, with incumbent left-back Aaron Cresswell now 32 years old and beyond his theoretical peak.

Similar in profile to Liverpool's Andrew Robertson, the Ukraine international has been dubbed an 'incredible' player by Guardiola, racking up countless trophies during his time at City.

The time is now for David Moyes' side to escalate their interest.