West Ham have enjoyed a fantastic summer so far, bringing in Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez, but the next signing potentially arriving at the London Stadium could eclipse all of the business done so far.

The Telegraph is one of many outlets reporting today that West Ham have submitted a club-record bid of £27.1m for Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho, in a deal that would exceed the current Hammers transfer record set earlier this summer in the capture of Arnautovic from Stoke.

Carvalho, a highly-rated 25-year-old Portuguese international, would stand as a major coup for Slaven Bilic’s side- particularly as he’s regularly been linked with the likes of Arsenal and other top Premier League clubs, which shows the calibre of players West Ham are targeting.

On top of that, a deal is significant for West Ham due to Carvalho’s age. At 25, he presents a perfect opportunity to be crafted into a top-class Premier League player and also boasts tremendous sell-on value in the future.

It would be a bold change of direction for the Hammers this summer, who’s business so far has largely been picking off scraps of the Premier League’s big guns, landing Hart and Zabaleta from Manchester City, whilst handing a fresh chance to experienced players like Arnautovic and Hernandez.

Of the quartet signed so far, Arnautovic is the youngest at 28 but he can be considered to be at the later stages of his career. That’s far from the case with Carvalho, who could dominate West Ham’s midfield for the next half-decade or more.

Slotting into the midfield, Carvalho’s presence in the centre of the park would allow those ahead of him, likely to be Arnautovic, Manuel Lanzini, Michail Antonio and Hernandez, to focus on the attacking aspects of their game, providing a blanket to the defence behind him.

Carvalho would be a solid partner to West Ham’s current defensive-minded midfielders, which include Pedro Obiang and Cheikhoue Kouyate as well as veteran captain Mark Noble, with the partnership with Obiang potentially being a duo to shine in the Premier League over the course of the coming years.

With 37 caps to his name with Portugal, Carvalho has the experience to be an instant hit in the Premier League and his potential is certainly something for West Ham fans to get excited about.