West Ham, Brighton gunning for Argentina international who’s enjoying ‘perfect season’

West Ham United and Brighton are hovering over an Argentine defender who’s in the midst of a ‘perfect season’ at club level, and how much he’ll cost has been revealed by a report.

The Hammers and Seagulls both invested in new centre-backs over the summer. West Ham landed ex-Arsenal man Konstantinos Mavropanos from Stuttgart for an initial £17m. Brighton, meanwhile, paid Fiorentina £17.4m to sign Igor Julio.

However, the pair have largely been overlooked for selection thus far, with each player having to make do with just a single Premier League appearance this season.

Now according to news from Italy, both clubs are sizing up another new centre-half and once again it involves Fiorentina.

Calciomercato.it report West Ham and Brighton have taken note of Argentina international, Lucas Martinez Quarta.

The 27-year-old is a mainstay at the heart of defence for Fiorentina and is described as experiencing a ‘perfect season’ thus far.

Fiorentina currently sit fourth in Serie A and Quarta’s solid displays at the back have aided their cause. However, he’s also proving himself a weapon at the other end of the pitch having scored twice and provided an assist as well.

The right-footer’s stellar displays in Florence have once again caught the eye of Argentina manager, Lionel Scaloni.

Quarta made 11 appearances for his country between 2019-22, though then went 18 months without receiving a call-up.

However, in lieu of his exploits in Italy, Quarta was named in Argentina’s squad for the current international break and got an hour off the bench in the 2-0 victory over Peru on Wednesday.

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Calciomercato stress negotiations between Fiorentina and West Ham or Brighton have not yet opened. Instead, it’s a case of the two English sides monitoring the player and weighing up whether to pounce at some stage in 2024.

On the subject of cost, the report concludes Quarta’s valuation has almost doubled since his €13m arrival from River Plate in 2020.

If the centre-back were to change clubs in 2024, Fiorentina can reportedly expect to collect around €25m (approx. £21.8m).

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