Sources: West Ham line up replacement for Haller as deal all but done
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Sources: West Ham line up replacement for Haller as deal all but done

Wayne Veysey
Wayne Veysey

Founder & Managing Director AUTHORITY Former chief correspondent at Evening Standard, Goal and Press Association with nearly three decades in national, regional and digital news and sports journalism. Wayne directs the network’s news strategy and high-level operations. FOCUS Editorial direction for the 11-site network and newsroom management. THE BRIEF Wayne oversees the network’s editorial standards across the network. He provides the final sign-off on all headline scoops, ensuring content across all platforms meets the standards required for a high-velocity newsroom.

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West Ham are preparing a new bid for Josh King as they finalise the £20million sale of Sebastien Haller to Ajax, Football Insider can reveal.

This site revealed on Thursday morning that Haller is in advanced talks to join the Dutch giants and had been given permission to undergo a medical in Amsterdam.

A West Ham source has told Football Insider that the club's plan is to replace Haller with a proven forward who can offer cover and competition for main man Michail Antonio.

The Premier League club are assessing a number of targets and chief among them is Bournemouth's King.

The Norway international was the subject of strong interest from West Ham last summer along with other clubs including Aston Villa.

The Hammers tabled a number of bids for the forward, who turns 29 next week, that were rejected by the Championship club.

West Ham believe they can sign King for a cut-price fee this month as his contract at the Cherries expire in the summer.

Preliminary talks have been held over a deal and those are set to advance in the coming days.

West Ham also have an interest in ex-Celtic and Fulham striker Moussa Dembele of Lyon, but that would be a more complex and expensive deal.

The imminent sale of Haller will come at a huge and humiliating loss of £25m for the Hammers after his club-record £45million arrival in 2019.

The Ivory Coast international has scored just 10 goals in 48 Premier League appearances and, across all competitions, his 53 matches have yielded 14 goals.

King has made little impact at Bournemouth this season, failing to score in eight Championship games, but is a proven top-flight scorer.

In other news, West Ham race to sign 6ft 5in centre-back ahead of Leeds United.

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