West Ham plotting double Coventry City transfer raid | OneFootball

The Hammers have looked towards the Championship leaders at two potential incomings

West Ham United are reportedly monitoring both Haji Wright and Ellis Simms of Coventry City as the Hammers prepare for a crucial January transfer window - the first of Nuno Espirito Santo's tenure at the London Stadium.

That is according to ExWHUEmployee - relayed by Hammers-themed news outlet West Ham Zone - whilst there is a distinct possibility that the East London side and the Sky Blues could indeed be swapping places in the English football pyramid come the end of the campaign.

Coventry have been going great guns ever since Frank Lampard took charge 13 months ago, with the Sky Blues continuing to ride a strong wave of momentum that has hardly been derailed, even despite their heartbreaking defeat to eventual promotion winners, Sunderland, in last season's Championship play-off semi-finals.

Indeed, the West Midlands outfit have been the standout performers in this season's second tier thus far, having won 14 of their opening 21 games, losing just twice, although both of those would come away from the Coventry Building Society Arena as they were defeated by Wrexham and Ipswich Town at the Stok Cae Ras and Portman Road.

After the most minor of blips, Lampard's table-toppers returned to winning ways over the course of the weekend, as Ephron Mason-Clark netted the decisive winner and the 52nd goal of City's season in a 1-0 success over Bristol City, whilst West Ham remain in grave danger of returning to the Championship for the first time since defeating Blackpool in the 2011/12 play-off final under Sam Allardyce.

A 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon sees them three points adrift of safety after 16 games played. And, with just 19 goals scored all season, it is perhaps no surprise that Nuno is looking to add further firepower as the Irons look to avoid relegation.

In recent times, Coventry have enjoyed a remarkable transformation both on and off the pitch, with a rapid rise from League Two to their current standpoint allowing previous manager, Mark Robins, and now Lampard, to attract a higher calibre of player as the club aims to end a Premier League exile which has lasted for just short of 25 years.

After reaching the Championship play-off final themselves under Robins in 2023, the Sky Blues were somewhat forced to rebuild their squad, and they were able to do exactly that by receiving hefty investments from the sales of Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer to Sporting CP and Sheffield United respectively.

Wright and Simms were seen as the duo who could fill such voids as they made their own high-profile moves from Antalyaspor and Everton in what was an extremely active summer of spending in this part of the West Midlands.

Indeed, Simms would move from the Merseyside club on a long-term contract, although there were mixed reports regarding the fee parted with, with some outlets reporting differing figures of £3.5m and £8m respectively.

However, the same cannot be said about how much the Sky Blues acquired Wright's services for, as the USMNT international moves to the CBS Arena in a club-record deal of £7.7m on a four-year contract.

The attacking duo have since scored 74 goals for Coventry across all competitions between them, although they have also been the subject of frustration from supporters at varying points.

Yet, despite the fact City are currently 12 points clear of third-placed Preston North End with 25 games remaining, they could potentially lose one of their attacking options to West Ham, according to the aforementioned reports.

ExWHUEmployee - via West Ham Zone - has claimed that Wright fits the profile of striker which Nuno is targeting this winter due to his physical attributes, whilst Simms' performances have also been monitored.

Fellow West Ham outlet, Claret and Hugh, have also claimed that Coventry would ask for a fee in the region of £15-20m for Wright, who has scored nine goals in 19 Championship and EFL Cup fixtures so far this season.

Coventry City will hope Haji Wright and Ellis Simms aren't distracted by potential exit talk

So often, it has been the case that a player's performances can take a hit when exit talk starts to surround them. However, this isn't anything new when it comes to Wright, who has previously been linked with a potential switch to Leeds United.

Of course, the attraction of featuring in the Premier League for the first time, in Wright's case, or on a much more regular basis for Simms, is extremely high. But, the current possibility of Coventry and West Ham starting next season in different leagues cannot be underestimated.

As such, it is no surprise that the duo are being targeted amid a strong vein of recent goalscoring form for Simms, whilst Wright is currently on a goal drought which has lasted since October 4th - but, his qualities when fully firing are there for all to see.

Unsurprisingly, though, Lampard and supporters will hope that such talk is not a distraction, as Coventry continue to search for the necessary number of points required to achieve promotion.