Athletico Paranaense are demanding €40m (£35.6m) for striker Vitor Roque, according to UOL Esporte.

The website claims that West Ham made a €14m (£12.4m) offer during the January transfer window but the proposal was knocked by Athletico as it fell well short of the Brazilian club’s asking price.

Other teams have since stepped up their interest in Roque, including Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea and Newcastle, who have all been mentioned as potential suitors over the past week or so.

UOL report that the Gunners are the club that have held “exploratory” talks with the 17-year-old’s agents most recently, but it seems that no team tabled a bid since West Ham made their approach last month.

The Hammers have been looking at the Brazilian market for young talent, having already snapped up Luizao from Sao Paulo at the start of January. Head of Recruitment Rob Newman is said to have strong contacts in South America so don’t be surprised if more players are signed from the continent this summer.