West Ham in talks to sign Norwich City star - Coventry City may be relieved | OneFootball

The Hammers are exploring potential forward options ahead of an important January transfer window.

West Ham United look set to sign a striker during the January transfer window as they battle against relegation from the Premier League, and Norwich City star Josh Sargent is one player who is on their radar.

Initial talks over a potential deal for Sargent next month have opened up in East London, as per teamtalk.com.

The Hammers currently find themselves inside the relegation zone in the top flight, and while Jarrod Bowen and Callum Wilson have scored nine league goals between them so far this term, it is no surprise that they want another attacker who can put the ball in the net on a regular basis during the second half of the season.

Sargent has hit double figures for the Canaries in the Championship in each of the last three seasons, and he already has six goals to his name this time around, although he has only scored once since August.

Norwich may value the USA international at more than £20 million in January, which is more than West Ham would have hoped for, but with the Canaries embroiled in a relegation battle of their own in the Championship, they cannot afford to lose their joint-top scorer for a cut-price.

West Ham are eyeing up Championship strikers ahead of January

West Ham boss Nuno Espírito Santo is well aware that top level talent can be found in the Championship, as he led a Wolverhampton Wanderers team that included Diogo Jota and Ruben Neves to the title in the second tier during the 2017/18 season.

Therefore, it should come as no real surprise that the 51-year-old is eyeing up a few Championship strikers as he searches for value in the transfer market ahead of the January window.

The Irons are reportedly monitoring Coventry City duo Haji Wright and Ellis Simms as well as Norwich forward Sargent, as per ExWHUEmployee via West Ham Zone. TEAMtalk note the initial discussions over the later that are now taking place.

West Ham have not been in the Championship since they won promotion via the play-offs in 2012, and signing a prolific forward from the division below to add competition up front could help to ensure that they do not return to the second tier next season.

With Niclas Fullkrug having failed to settle at the London Stadium and Callum Marshall lacking the necessary experience to play a key role in a Premier League relegation battle, one of Sargent, Wright, or Simms would add another much-needed out-and-out striker to Nuno's current forward options.

Frank Lampard will be encouraged by West Ham, Josh Sargent development

Frank Lampard insisted that he wanted to keep his best players in January last month, as per Coventry Live, so he would not have welcomed the news that West Ham were interested in Wright and Simms.

Therefore, he will no doubt be encouraged by the fact his former club have opened initial talks over a potential deal for Norwich star Sargent.

Wright and Simms have scored eight and seven league goals respectively so far this season, which has helped Coventry reach the top of the table at this stage of the campaign, so if West Ham opt to pursue a deal for Sargent instead of them, it would make things a lot easier for the Sky Blues next month.