Fabrizio Romano reveals Hammers bid for French international who is joining Serie A

Recently, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed Hammers' interest in a French international who is joining Serie A. West Ham is in need of a big squad upgrade to oversee some progress made under Julen Lopetegui after the struggling ninth-place finish last season. 

Lopetegui's new style of football highlights the need for a high-work ethic defensive midfielder. And one of the best ball winners in the midfield in European football is Monaco's French international, Youssouf Fofana. 

Fabrizio Romano reveals Hammers bid for Youssouf Fofana

The Hammers were said to be huge admirers of the midfielder. Now, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed that West Ham indeed submitted a bid to sign Fofana, which was rejected by Monaco, as the midfielder is finalizing a transfer to Serie A giants AC Milan this summer. 

Speaking on the rejected bid, Fabrizio Romano reported saying,

"Youssouf Fofana agreed on personal terms with AC Milan weeks ago and he still wants the move.
Fofana wants to play Champions League football; no agreement yet Milan/Monaco.
West Ham bid was already rejected by the player days ago, WHUFC are looking at other targets."

- Fabrizio Romano

Also, playing in the Champions League played a huge role in snubbing a move to London in favor of joining Milan. Last summer, West Ham were able to sign star players like Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez for a bargain as the Hammers had the advantage of playing European football, which is not the case this season. 

That has made signing players more difficult; however, West Ham needs to sign other top players to assemble a quality squad that can compete for a European spot next season.