Hull City striker Nikica Jelavic has sealed a return to the top flight of English football, with Premier League side West Ham United the suitors.
Jelavic joins Hammers
The Croatian international conducted a medical in London on Monday to finalise the transfer, a deal believed to be worth in the region of £3 million.
This will see Jelavic reunite with new West Ham manager Slaven Bilic, who was the manager of the Croatia international team between 2006 and 2012.
The 30-year-old joined Hull back in the January of 2014 from fellow top-flight side Everton. He managed 13 goals in 50 appearances for the Tigers, but that wasn’t enough to prevent them dropping down into the Sky Bet Championship at the end of last season.
Host of signings
Jelavic becomes Bilic’s eighth signing of the season following the arrivals of Dimitri Payet, Pedro Obiang, Angelo Ogbonna, Carl Jenkinson, Manuel Lanzini, Darren Randolph and George Dobson.
Lack of forwards
His arrival seems to have come at the right time after Bilic expressed his desire to bolster his attacking options after their astounding 3-0 victory at Anfield over Liverpool on Saturday.
Diafra Sakho is currently the only fully fit senior striker with Enner Valencia and Mauro Zarate currently side-lined and Andy Carroll expected to return after the international break after a seven-month lay-off with a knee injury.
Host of arrivals
Jelavic isn’t expected to be the only addition to the squad in the final two days of the transfer window.
Nottingham Forest’s Michail Antonio is expected to complete his move, the Championship club rejected an initial bid of £5m plus Matt Jarvis on a season-long loan, but an improved bid of £7m was accepted in the week.
It is also expected that Chelsea’s Victor Moses and Barcelona’s Alex Song will complete their loan moves before the window closes on Tuesday evening.