West Ham 'medical booked' as 'seriously' verdict issued on striker search

West Ham are back in action on Sunday when they take on Aston Villa in their bid to begin a resurgence under Graham Potter. The Hammers have endured a hugely frustrating campaign so far, currently 14th in the table and 11 points off the European spots.

Potter will be keen to improve quickly, although he might need a few extra tools to do so, with the Hammers now searching for new signings. Here we round up all the latest news and transfer rumours surrounding the London Stadium.

Midfielder deal close

West Ham are said to be closing in on the signing of Ezechiel Banzuzi as Graham Potter looks to land a new midfielder this month. The 19-year-old has already racked up 58 league appearances for OH Leuven and he is a Netherlands under-21s international.

Sky Sports report that the deal will be worth £13million and that the medical could take place this weekend. The young midfielder is said to be viewed as a player who can take up the Declan Rice role in the Hammers midfield.

Striker search

West Ham have been linked with a move for RB Leipzig forward Andre Silva, and journalist Dean Jones has issued his verdict on the striker search. He told The Boot Room: “We know that the Nottingham Forest striker, Awoniyi is one they’re looking at, but that seems like a really difficult deal to do, they’re struggling to get that one through.

“What we know about West Ham, time and time again, is that they will cast the net wide, and then they will see which deal works out best for them. Evan Ferguson keeps coming on the radar, maybe that one crops back up, Andre Silva keeps getting mooted as a potential target, he’s available and that’s why we should take that one seriously.”

Injury update

West Ham boss Potter has issued an injury update ahead of Sunday’s clash with Villa. He said: “He's [Bowen] been integrated into the group,” Potter confirmed, speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. He's had one or two sessions, so we will still need to assess him and how he reacts. It's still early, but obviously we'll go into another day tomorrow. I think it's important that we don't rush him in and we make sure he's right.

“It's the same situation with Cry [Summerville] as well. He’s had a couple of sessions, but again, we need to make sure that he's confident and we're confident. It's nice to have them taking part in aspects of training, of course, but as I said, we need to make sure that they're back, they’re comfortable and they feel ready to help us, because undoubtedly they will.”

On Jean-Clair Todibo, Potter added: “He's progressing, but the weekend will come too soon for him, for sure. We need to help him get back fit because then he'll help us.”