West Ham have put together a novel loan-to-buy package to lure Joe Hart from Manchester City this summer, according to the Sun.
The newspaper claim that the London club have prepared an offer in which Hart would join for a season-long loan before completing a permanent transfer 12 months later.
The Sun report that West Ham want to match Hart’s £100,000-a-week wages while on loan for a year and then pay the transfer fee of around £18million in the summer of 2018.
It is said that the staggered payments would make it an affordable deal that would otherwise be out of reach for West Ham were they to try to land the England number one permanently in the current window.
This comes at a time when City are keen to sell Hart permanently after a season in which he was loaned out to Serie A club Torino.
Manager Pep Guardiola has made it clear he has no place in his team for the 30-year two-times Premier League winner, whose reputation suffered a further blow when he was beaten by two late Leigh Griffiths free-kicks in England’s 2-2 draw against Scotland on Saturday evening.
The Sun report that City have been forced to lower Hart’s asking price from £20million due to a lack of clubs willing to buy him.