Behrami on verge of West Ham exit

West Ham midfielder Valon Behrami has moved a step closer to making a move to Roma after the Italian club gave the green light for Julio Baptista to join Malaga.

Behrami has been strongly linked with a £4.5m move back to Serie A, but the deal was strongly dependent on Roma allowing Baptista to leave the club.

Italian bank Unicredit are Roma's majority shareholders and they have now given the go-ahead for Malaga to complete the £2m purchase of Baptista.

The Swiss international is keen to finalise his move back to Italy in the next few days and West Ham will be eager to bring in their own funds as they look to strengthen the squad in the January transfer window.