West Ham, Crystal Palace and Brentford 'battle' to sign ex-Tottenham star who is thriving in the Championship

Premier League rivals West Ham, Crystal Palace and Brentford are all in the market to strengthen their attacking options in the January transfer window.

West Ham are in fine form at the moment and will hope to add further squad depth to their attack so that they can continue to thrive both in the Europa League knockout rounds and in the Premier League. David Moyes’ side have plenty of money to spend as a result of the Declan Rice sale in the summer and may look to use some of those funds in January.

Likewise, Crystal Palace are on the hunt for a goal scoring winger to serve as a long term replacement for Wilfried Zaha who departed last summer. The Eagles troubles were amplified by the injury which was recently sustained by Michael Olise which will keep him out until the end of January.

Furthermore, an out of form Brentford team are keen to add quality to cover for the potential loss of Ivan Toney. The forward has been heavily linked with moves to both Arsenal and Chelsea after a sensational season last term. The London trio have all set their sights on Sunderland attacker Jack Clarke, according to reports from the Evening Standard.

Clarke is in fine form this season and has fired in 12 goals in 26 games for a Sunderland team who are sitting sixth in the second tier as things stand. The 23-year-old is a product of the Leeds United academy. He enjoyed a three year stay at Tottenham Hotspur - which saw him spend most of his time out on loan to various clubs including QPR and Stoke City before eventually settling at a new permanent home in Sunderland.

Clarke has played most of his career as a winger and was a member of the Black Cats team which was promoted from the League One play-offs in 2022. He remained out wide last season as the Black Cats missed out on back-to-back promotions to the Premier League - scoring nine and providing 12 assists for the sixth place side.

This season Clarke has moved into a more central attacking role and has continued to add even more goals to his game. Sunderland are keen to keep hold of Clarke for the second half of the season, but a bid north of around £20m could prompt serious consideration. Burnley are another club keen on adding a striker to their ranks. The Clarets had a bid of around £15m rejected late in the summer and it remains to be seen whether Vincent Kompany and his team will return to the table.