West Ham Seal €10m Deal for Botafogo Keeper John Victor

The Hammers are looking to add competition for Alphonse Areola after he struggled to impress in pre-season

West Ham are closing in on a deal to sign Botafogo shot-stopper John Victor.

Standard Sport understands a €10million (£8.4m) package has been agreed today, with personal terms already settled.

The 29-year-old Brazilian, known simply as John, joined Botafogo from boyhood club Santos in January 2024 following loan spells at Portugesa Santista, Internacional, and Valldolid.

He made 84 appearances last season and played every minute of Botafogo’s Club World Cup campaign, keeping a clean sheet in a shock upset of European champions Paris Saint-Germain.

In the year since he joined Botafogo, he has won the Copa Libertadores, Taca Rio, and Brazilian Serie A.

Everton and Galatasaray were also reported to be interested in the player.

West Ham’s push to add keepers is indicative of the club’s confidence in Alphonse Areola . The Frenchman was unconvincing last season and has shown scant improvement in pre-season. He made a glaring error as West Ham were beaten by Manchester United in New York last week, giving up a penalty as he scrambled to recover a dropped high ball.

The club also need to fill Lukasz Fabianski’s gloves after the Pole’s seven-year spell at the London Stadium ended last summer.

John recorded a higher save percentage (78.6%) than both Areola (65.3%) and Fabianksi (69.2%) last season.

He will be the club’s fifth senior signing of the summer, after deals for Kyle Walker-Peters, Callum Wilson, El Hadji Malick Diouf, and Jean-Clair Todibo were completed earlier in the window.

Graham Potter has kept his cards close to his chest this summer when discussing transfer business. Asked this weekend where West Ham were looking to improve, he simply said: “We’re working behind the scenes and if there’s an opportunity to strengthen, we will.”