West Ham are interested in signing Burnley central defender James Tarkowski on a free transfer.
The 29-year-old has been a stalwart of Sean Dyche’s defence for the past six years, making 200 appearances in all competitions, but his contract is up at the end of June.
Tarkowski is yet to decide whether or not to extend his deal, but if comments from Burnley chairman Alan Pace last month are anything to go by, he’s veering towards moving away from Turf Moor in order to further his career.
“From my perspective, James is fantastic and we’d love him to stay longer,” Pace remarked to Express Sport. “He obviously – at least from what he has said – feels that there are other opportunities and ambitions.
“We will support him any way that he would like, whether he wants to stay or go. I don’t know about the other side.”
Interest in Tarkowski is understandably high, with Newcastle among his many suitors, and 90min understands that West Ham manager David Moyes is keen to bring him to the London Stadium on a free transfer.
The Hammers are currently battling for a top four finish and Champions League qualification, and their continued progress under Moyes is likely to appeal to Tarkowski – who is currently at the wrong end of the table battling relegation and is yet to play European football.
Moyes has previously admitted that he’d like to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window, but West Ham have been unable to conclude any deals despite holding interest in a number of players.
Were Tarkowski to move to the capital this summer, he’d provide excellent competition for places in a defence that has been depleted by injuries to Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna.
Zouma is hopeful of returning from a hamstring issue in the next couple of weeks, but Ogbonna, who is out of contract in the summer, will almost certainly miss the remainder of the campaign after tearing his ACL against Liverpool in November.
