New striker on the way

Felipe Caicedo could be set to join West Ham after it was revealed that they player has been in talks with the club.

The Ecuadorian striker, 21, is surplus to requirement at big-spending Manchester City and spent the beginning of the week locked in talks with Hammers representatives with regards to a season-long loan move to the Boleyn Ground.

Caicedo made his name as a teenager with FC Basel in Switzerland before being snapped up by Mark Hughes on transfer deadline day 2008 for €7million. However he failed to hold down a regular starting berth at Eastlands and was allowed to join Sporting CP on a season-long loan prior to the start of the 2009/10 season.

Unfortunately the move soon turned sour and in January 2010, after just seven starts, Caicedo - who was first linked with an £8million move to West Ham last summer - returned to Manchester City only halfway through his loan spell.

Within a week he was off again; having rejected the chance to join (then) Premier League outfit Hull he joined Malaga on loan for the remainder of the campaign where he went on to score four times in 18 appearances.

In other news, it has been revealed that Jeremie Aliadiere - who spent several months at West Ham back in 2005 before having his (season-long) loan spell rfom Arsenal cut short after proving to be a huge disappointment - is training at Chadwell Heath having been released by Championship outfit Middlesbrough.

The former Arsenal trainee, now 27, made just one start for Alan Pardew's newly-promoted side before being sent packing by a far-from-impressed manager. 'He came, he got injured and he moaned about not being picked' is how KUMB.com described Aliadiere's spell at West Ham at the time.