West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan has confirmed that an agreement has been reached to sign Leeds United full-back Sam Byram.
The Hammers had hoped to recruit the 22-year-old in the summer, when he was due to become a free agent.
However, following strong interest from Everton over the weekend, West Ham were forced to make their move - as revealed by Leeds owner Massimo Cellino last night.
"We hoped to sign Sam Byram in the summer when he was out of contract at Leeds," Sullivan told Sky Sports News.
"But, in the last few days it looked like he was going to Everton, so we realised it was now or never. We had to pitch in and attempt to sign him.
"Hopefully that will go through in the next 24 hours. Everything is agreed with him and the club. I would not normally say this, but the Leeds chairman has made it public."
West Ham are expected to pay their Championship counterparts around £4m for the defender.
Liam Apicella
