West Ham are set to battle London rivals Tottenham in the race to sign Everton playmaker Ross Barkley, according to the Daily Star.
The report claims that Hammers boss Slaven Bilic is willing to double the 23-year-old’s wages at Everton and offer the England international a huge £140,000-a-week in order to meet his salary demands.
It is believed that Everton have set an asking price of £50million, but the Hammers are looking to take the transfer window by storm and bring big-name signings to the London Stadium and could therefore stump up the cash.
Bilic has already confirmed the signing of Argentina international Pablo Zabaleta on a free transfer from Manchester City, and now Barkley could be the second new signing on his way to Stratford.
Everton are looking to offload their number eight after he failed to agree terms on a new Goodison Park deal following an ultimatum from manager Ronald Koeman, with the Toffees already lining up three replacements.
The report states that a return to Merseyside for Man United captain Wayne Rooney could be on the cards, while the Toffees are willing to pay £35million to sign Swansea ace Gylfi Sigurdsson. Ajax’s Davy Klaassen is also an option.
However, it remains to be seen if Barkley would want to move to the London Stadium, with the report claiming he would favour a move to Tottenham in order to play with close friend Dele Alli and boost his England chances.
This season, Everton academy product Barkley has had a hand in 15 goals for the Toffees during his 39 league and cup encounters.
Scoring six times against the likes of Tottenham, Bournemouth and even the Hammers, he also laid on nine assists throughout the 2016-17 campaign.