West Ham United are closing in on a move for Chelsea left-back Emerson Palmieri, according to club insider ExWHUemployee.

The Lowdown

The Hammers have been hard at work in the transfer market this summer after the east London club identified the need to replace Aaron Cresswell in David Moyes’ starting XI.

At one stage, former Eintracht Frankfurt full-back Filip Kostic looked close to signing a deal with the Irons, after the Bundesliga outfit accepted a £17m bid for the player and a reported £120,000-per-week contract was left on the table for his signature.

However, the Serbia international ultimately decided to wait on Juventus, for whom he ended up signing on a four-year deal.

Consequently, it appeared that the Hammers had identified Leicester City’s Luke Thomas as a potential addition, but a deal has so far failed to come to fruition.

The Latest

ExWHUemployee has shared an update on West Ham’s left-back search, following rumours surrounding a potential move for Chelsea ace Emerson Palmieri.

Taking to Twitter late on Sunday night, the reliable Hammers insider claimed: “Emerson is close, personal terms to agree.”

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The Verdict

Compared with positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year, Emerson’s impressive statistics illustrate why he could be a great prospective addition to Moyes’ back-line.

As per FBRef, the Italy international ranks in the 93rd percentile for passes attempted, the 90th percentile for pass completion and the 82nd percentile for clearances – demonstrating a solid set of attributes which would show an improvement over Cresswell’s poor defensive reliability.

Hailed as a ‘top professional’ by Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, the 28-year-old seems to have the sort of attitude that Moyes would want in an incoming player.

Therefore, if the two parties can agree upon personal terms, this could be a great signing for the Irons.