West Ham advancing talks to sign Harvey Barnes from Leicester

West Ham United are advancing talks with Leicester City over the signing of winger Harvey Barnes, 90min understands.

The Hammers are looking to strengthen their squad after qualifying for this season's Europa League, courtesy of their first trophy success in 43 years.

Declan Rice's imminent £105m move to Arsenal, which is only being held up by the finer details of how quickly the money will be paid, is expected to fund significant activity transfer in the window, with West Ham also looking for recruits in defence, midfield and attack.

Sources have told 90min that West Ham's plans potentially include signing two wingers - the first of whom could be Barnes from recently relegated Leicester.

The 25-year-old scored a career-best 13 Premier League goals last season but was unable to prevent Leicester from dropping into the second tier, just seven years after they famously lifted the title. Newcastle, Aston Villa and Tottenham have shown interest in Barnes but 90min understands that West Ham are advancing negotiations with Leicester over a move to London Stadium.

Barnes' arrival would provide quality depth for David Moyes as he bids to improve on West Ham's disappointing Premier League performance last season - their victory in Europe was overshadowed by losing 20 of their 38 games en route to a 14th place finish.

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Leicester have already sold James Maddison to Tottenham Hotspur in a deal that could eventually be worth £45m, though West Ham will hope a move for Barnes, who has a single England international cap to his name, can be pushed through for less.

The Hammers' other transfer targets could be determined by incoming technical director Tim Steidten, whose last role was in a similar capacity at Bayer Leverkusen.

Currently, West Ham are showing an active interest in Ajax's Edson Alvarez - his move to Borussia Dortmund appears to be off after hitting a snag - but they are also tracking Joao Palhinha, Kalvin Phillips, Denis Zakaria and Amadou Onana as they ponder how to best replace Rice.

In terms of outgoings, Roma are still hoping to push through a move for Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca after his difficult first season in England, but West Ham may be reluctant to sanction a move of any kind unless they are able to bring in further competition for Michail Antonio.

Arsenal's Folarin Balogun is a player West Ham have made contact over, but he has significant interest in his services from a number of other Premier League teams, as well as from abroad.

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On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saundersis joined by Toby Cudworth, Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss Mason Mount's impending move to Man Utd, Arsenal's various deals, Liverpool's pursuit of Dominik Szoboszlai and more!

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