West Ham United are set to sell defender James Collins to Stoke City for £5 million.
The Daily Mail says though they are not short of central defenders - manager Gianfranco Zola can call on internationals Matthew Upson and Danny Gabbidon and top prospect James Tomkins - a sale will once again expose their fragile financial underbelly.
Collins, a towering Wales international, has been first choice under Zola.