West Ham Close on Shorey

The Independent say that West Ham hope to sign Reading left back Nicky Shorey for £6 million early next week. The paper also say that Liverpool are prepared to pay £4.5 million for Benayoun and that he is likely to be used in a swap with Craig Bellamy. If Benayoun does move then West Ham will try once again to sign Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The Mail claim that Bent has agreed a deal with Sp~@rs that will see him playing for little more than half the wages he would have earned at Upton Park. If Bent has joined Sp@~rs then this is likely to hasten the departure of Defoe. Also with Barcelona on the verge of signing Thierry Henry for £1 million less than Bent I'd say the Spuds were mugged.

The Mail also say that they have 'learned' that three contracts are in existence which prove that Kia Joorabchian's MSI company maintained its third party influence over Tevez after West Ham had been fined £5.5million.

It appears that they have 'learned' this from Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe, so it is worth taking with a pinch of salt.