West Ham are believed to be ready to offer around £5 million for Southampton and England striker Rickie Lambert.

The player is a long term favourite of manager Sam Allardyce and we are told the Hammers are trying to clinch a deal whilst the trouble-torn south coast club is in turmoil.

Sources around Upton Park have revealed that new Saints owner Katharina Liebherr has been informed of the London outfit’s interest  but is equally ‘savvy’ that former owner Nicholas Cortese had a £7 million price tag on the 32 year old’s head.

Nobody at Upton Park was today rejecting the story but instead confirmed that the manager had held a long term interst in the player.

It remains unclear, however, whether the club would take both Lambert and loan signing Monaco’s Lacina Traore who this week gained a work permit which is non transferrable to any other English club.

Were the Hammers to decide to push ahead with a Lambert deal that would seemingly leave the Monaco striker without any option but to return to France.

However, as has been revealed elsewhere, e understand that the Hammers may fall short on Lambert’s personal terms.

The player has long expressed a desire to stay at Southampton but that may have changed since the fall of the Cortese empire.