West Ham have joined Everton, Southampton and Newcastle United in the race to sign Arsenal forward Theo Walcott on loan during the January transfer window.
The Hammers have climbed out of the relegation zone in recent weeks but David Moyes, who replaced Slaven Bilic at the London Stadium in November, is keen to bolster his squad this month.
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Walcott, who has played almost 400 games for Arsenal since signing from Southampton in 2006, has emerged as a target for Moyes but he faces competition from a number of Premier League rivals, according to the Daily Express.
Walcott’s boyhood club Southampton are believed to be leading the race to land a loan move until the end of the season but Everton and Newcastle are also showing interest.
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Only making five Premier League appearances this season – all from the bench – Walcott is desperate for more first-team opportunities. Southampton would hope to turn the loan stint into a permanent move in the summer.
Southampton’s dismal run continued on Tuesday as they let a lead slip to suffer a 2-1 defeat to fellow relegation-battlers Crystal Palace at home.
The Saints have not won a league game in nine attempts and slipped to 17th after the hugely disappointing result. Manager Mauricio Pellegrino said: ‘It is a difficult game for us to digest.
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‘In the first half it was completely different and we were talking about how to score the second goal, but we gave them the possibility to score a couple of goals because we played backwards and sometimes we played too deep.
‘My players’ confidence will be down but that is normal. We must learn how to play this type of game, especially when the conditions are like that.’
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