West Ham are keeping tabs on Benfica defender Alejandro Grimaldo, according to journalist Dean Jones.

The former Eurosport reporter claims that the Spaniard is a player that the Hammers are seriously considering pursuing as they look to strengthen their options at left-back:

“I know they really like Alex Grimaldo. He was linked to Man City the other day. So he’s one of the top names they’ve looked at. But there’ll be others too, as there always is with West Ham. Maybe this is part of the problem. They go after too many players at one time and end up with no one.”

Grimaldo is within the final year of his contract at Benfica and reports in Portugal have suggested that he could be available for as little as €7m (£6m) this summer.

Arsenal were linked prior to them signing Oleksandr Zinchenko, while (as Jones mentions) Manchester City have also been tipped as a potential suitor, following their failure to recruit Marc Cucurella from Brighton.

However, West Ham would probably be the only club where Grimaldo would be deployed as a regular starter. Aaron Cresswell struggled at times last season, and bringing in competition for the defender is believed to be one of David Moyes’ top priorities before the transfer window closes later this month.