Sam Allardyce has described Matt Jarvis as one of the Premier League's best creative players after confirming a medical is taking place.
Wolves winger set to complete Premier League return
Sam Allardyce has described Matt Jarvis as one of the best creative players in the Premier League after confirming the winger is undergoing a medical with West Ham.
Allardyce made Jarvis his top transfer target this summer after impressing with Wolves last season, despite their relegation from the top flight.
And Allardyce's pursuit has paid off as the West Ham boss has confirmed that Jarvis, who earned an England cap last year, is having a medical at Upton Park
as revealed by Sky Sports.
The deal could be completed on Thursday evening and would make Jarvis the most expensive signing in the Hammers ' history at a reported £10.75million.
But Allardyce is confident the 26-year-old will provide the cutting edge West Ham need to re-establish themselves in the top flight following promotion last term.
"From my point of view it is a big piece of business," he said. "I think a quality young man who has got a lot of qualities that will add to the team we have already got.
Creative
"When you are trying to create in the Premier League and score goals, he is one of those players who can certainly give defences a really hard time and that is what we are hoping he can do for us."
Should Jarvis be registered in time then Allardyce has no qualms about throwing him straight into his starting line-up for Saturday's trip to Swansea.
"This is not a player that is coming in from abroad or coming from a foreign club," he said.
"He had a full pre-season at Wolves, he played on Tuesday night for Wolves and I watched him play against Leeds sat in my office waiting for our first game last week, and was obviously thoroughly impressed with him again.
"He has been a huge success at Wolverhampton Wanderers since his move from Gillingham and we hope he will be as big a success for us as he was for them. He is fit, he is eager and he is ready to go."
Backing
The fee is set to eclipse the £9m West Ham paid for Savio Nsereko in January 2009 and although Allardyce was reluctant to name the exact figure, he praised the club's owners for their support.
"All I know is it is me asking the co-chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold to try and secure this player - to make sure that if we can do it financially, let's do it," he said.
"They have done that and we are extremely pleased to sign what we consider to be a high-quality player for our team."
Don't forget Sky TV customers who upgrade to the Sky Sports Pack today will get a one-off £5 discount on their bill. Simply click here to upgrade now. Not available to current Sky Sports customers.
