West Ham continue to be linked with a string of players following David Sullivan's revelation that he is looking to bring in some new faces ahead of the transfer window deadline.
The Midlands-based Sunday Mercury bring us one of the strangest links of the transfer window this morning - a proposed 'shock move' for former Hammer Bobby Zamora who they claim would cost more than the £5million Fulham paid West Ham two years ago. Perhaps it's an-joke by the Brummies that's gone way over our head.Speaking of former players, Zamora's ex-strike partner Marlon Harewood is another cited by some sources as a possible last-minute signing, should all of West Ham's main transfer targets fall through. Harewood, who will always be fondly remembered for his FA Cup semi final winner against Middlesbrough is currently on loan at Newcastle but the Championship club are stalling over offering the former Forest player a permanent deal. QPR are also said to be monitoring the situation.
On to more likely targets and Blackburn's Benni McCarthy remains one of the hot favourites to join the Double D's East London revolution, although conflicting reports suggest the Hammers have offered anywhere between £1-2million for the South African international. Rovers, no doubt mindful of the fact that West Ham can afford to pay one player £100,000 per week are said to be holding out for around £3million.
Elsewhere the mystery £100,000 man referred to Five Live yesterday by David Sullivan is, according to most papers this morning, Real Madrid's Ruud Van Nistelrooy - despite Sullivan adding that West Ham are the only English club to make a firm offer for him. Van Nistelrooy was rumoured last night to be close to joining former German giants SV Hamburg instead.
However another possibility is AC Milan's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who is said to want out of Italy in order to boost his World Cup chances. Today's Mirror have West Ham and Birmingham as interested parties, claiming both have enquired over the availability of the Dutch striker who is currently out of favour at the San Siro.
On possible outgoings and Swiss midfielder Valon Behrami is being linked with a £15million move to Manchester City. I'll stick my neck out here and say there's absolutely nothing in it as Behrami's agent, Allessandro Beltrami, has a history of hawking his player in the press. Therefore don't be surprised to see a few more stories of this ilk before the end of the month.
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