Jesse Lingard has been considered at Tottenham following his departure from Manchester United as a free agent.
The Spurs have bolstered their broad attacking areas with Richarlison and Ivan Perisic, but Lingard, 29, is seen as a creative central midfielder where he played for England during the last World Cup.
West Ham were in the running for Lingard after his loan to David Moyes’ squad last year, when he forced his way back into Gareth Southgate’s England consideration.
But the Spurs, who have been looking to add numbers to Antonio Conte’s roster to face Champions League football next season, have also looked to Lingard, who has the added bonus of being a homegrown player.
With Yves Bissouma also coming from Brighton, the Spurs are breaking the limit of non-native players for their return to the Champions League after finishing fourth last season.
Lingard has admirers at Spurs and is at low risk as a free agent, despite a frustrating last season at Old Trafford, where he made two Premier League starts and many of his 23 appearances off the bench.
But he still started the last campaign in the England squad, adding to his 32 caps with games against Andorra, where he scored twice. Under Ralf Rangnick, he was mainly used as a substitute in the second half of the season, as his contract expired at the club where he has spent his entire career.
During his loan spell at West Ham, he scored nine goals in ten games to help the club qualify for the Europa League, although he returned to United for the final year of his contract.
He was part of the group of seniors who left United as free agents before Erik Ten Hag’s era. The list was headed by Paul Pogba and also included Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic, as well as Lingard.