Ravel Morrison could be on his way to Serie A - with several fellow youngsters set to follow him out of the club.
It was reported late Monday night (numerous sources) that the 21-year-old England Under 21 international is in talks with Italian side Lazio, who once had fellow maverick Paul Gascoigne on their books.It has already been established that West Ham are prepared to let Morrison go for a nominal fee in order to end his association with West Ham, following a string of highly-publicised misdemeanours.
Although several clubs have been linked with the midfielder, none have previously backed up their interest with a firm offer. A move abroad could now be the best move for Morrison, who had failed to settle at any club since starting his career at Manchester United.
In other transfer news, Development Squad striker Danny Whitehead had joined MK Dons on trial, with view to a permanent move.
The former Stockport youngster, who joined West Ham in June 2013 but made just one appearance for the first team - the ill-fated 5-0 FA Cup defeat at Nottingham Forest last January - featured in a 3-0 win for the Dons over Gillingham last night, doing his prospects of earning a permanent contract no harm at all.
The likes of George Moncur (Colchester) and Sean McGuire (Accrington, loan) have already been shipped out in recent weeks as West Ham look to trim the size of the Development Squad.
However two players set to remain at the Academy are the highly rated duo, Joe Powell and Reece Oxford. Midfielder Powell, whose younger brother was also at the Academy until 2012 and the highly-rated Oxford are understood to have signed new contracts with West Ham.
Elsewhere, Nigerian international Efe Ambrose is tipped to be the latest centre half on Sam Allardyce's radar. Earlier in the day Hammers target Matija Nastasic completed a move from Manchester City to Schalke, heightening speculation that the Celtic defender could be the next target.
* There's actually 1,378.9 miles between Manchester and the Italian capital Rome but that would have made for an untidy headline, so 1,400 it is.
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