Barcelona transfer news: West Ham United expected to bid for Thomas Vermaelen after Roma rejected

Barcelona are awaiting a formal offer from West Ham United for the services of Thomas Vermalen according to Sport, with the publication suggesting the Catalan giants have placed a €12m (£10.2m, $13.2m) price tag on the defender. Roma have already launched a bid to bring the Belgian to Serie A, but Luis Enrique's side are holding out for the Hammers to make a firm proposal, as the former Arsenal star wants to return to the Premier League.

Vermalen moved to the Nou Camp in the summer of 2014 for around €19m. However, he failed to replicate his best days - the Emirates Stadium during his two seasons in Spain. A string of injuries has saw himlimited to just 21 games, having fell behind Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano and Jeremy Mathieu in the defensive pecking order.

Barcelona have now decided to part ways with the player, whose position is additionally threatened by their €25m deal with Lyon to sign France international Samuel Umtiti.

Vermaelen has told the club he is happy to move elsewhere, but Sport suggests the Spanish giants are not prepared to let him leave on the cheap, with a fee of around €12m being demanded.

Mundo Deportivo recently reported that Liverpool, West Ham, Inter, AC Milan, Napoli and Besiktas were all monitoring the situation ahead of a possible move.

Sport now adds that Roma are the only team to have launched a formal approach thus far, but the cash offered was deemed insufficient by Barcelona.

The club are awaiting a proposal from West Ham, as Slaven Bilic's team have already expressed an interest in the player amid the departure of James Tomkins. However, other names are being considered by the Hammers and they are yet to launch a formal bid.

Sport claims that relationships between Barcelona and West Ham are positive following the latter's use of Alex Song on loan in recent seasons, and Vermaelen would be keenest on a move to them unless Liverpool or Inter Milan make a concrete proposal.