West Ham and Brighton are set to be beaten to the signing of free agent defender Mats Hummels by La Liga outfit Real Sociedad this summer.

The Spanish club are making fast progress on a deal with the player, who left Borussia Dortmund five years after having returned to the club in 2019. Hummels is 35 years old and has five Bundesliga titles to his name, along with a World Cup win with Germany in 2014, but is keen to keep playing.

Hummels made 40 appearances in all competitions for Dortmund last season and regularly showed his class. After one particularly impressive shift against AC Milan in the Champions League last November, the defender was compared to a 'football god' by teammate Edin Terzic.

Terzic said: "He is someone who has seen and experienced everything in football. He played an incredible game. There are no doubt some people who can remember Jurgen Kohler's game in Manchester [Champions League, 1997].

"He was then proclaimed a football god. I don't think Kohler's performance back then was much better than Mats Hummels' performance [against Milan]."

With such experience, there has been no shortage of interest in his services with Sky Sports reporting that the Hammers and the Seagulls had 'made contact' with the player earlier this month.

"Formal proposal already sent and expected to be accepted, final details being sorted with Real Sociedad confident to get the green light and announce Hummels."

West Ham have already spent PS40 million on signing centre-back Max Kilman from Wolves this summer, as well as PS15 million on right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Manchester United. However, with Kurt Zouma poised to exit the club and Nayef Aguerd also linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, Julen Lopetegui could still find space for another defensive acquisition.