Hammers hovering on defender

West Ham are continuing to monitor the Sam Byram talks very closely.

Everton are understood to be in talks with the defender and his advisers over his personal terms but all parties are aware of the Hammers interest.

ClaretandHugh was told late last night that the club are in the background awaiting any developments but with the transfer window still open for another two weeks there is no panic.

The Hammers will be keen to do a deal based on him being a free transfer in the summer which could allow them to outbid Everton’s current offers to the player by some distance.

That raises the issue of other clubs entering the race, although the Toffees and the Irons are the only two to have shown an interest so far.

However, should the Irons be forced to intervene over the next fortnight it means that the two Davids will have to dig into their personal funds to complete the transfer as there is none available in the club.

But there still remains the issue of the wage bill which has reached the FFP limit although there may be some room for manouevre given Matt Jarvis’ departure and others of which the club are aware but we aren’t!