David Moyes will end Sebastien Haller’s “upbeat” response to his early season struggles should West Ham United look to sign Olympique Lyonnais striker Moussa Dembele this January.

What’s the word?

According to France Football (24/11, p. 4), the Irons are paying close attention to Dembele’s situation at the Groupama Stadium with the £50,000-per-week striker a potential January target for David Moyes’ side.

Dembele is enduring an indifferent campaign in Ligue 1 this term, as the 24-year-old is yet to get off the mark for goals or assists while resigned to just 513 minutes of action across all competitions.

Lyon boss Rudi Garcia has only opted to start the former Celtic ace in one of his last six Ligue 1 outings, too, having grown despondent of the attacker’s tame efforts over the opening weeks with Dembele only striking more than two shots a game in two fixtures and failing to register a strike twice thus far, per WhoScored.

Yet, despite the seismic stagnation of Dembele’s development after a 24-goal, seven-assist campaign in 2019/20, West Ham appear to be remaining keen on a deal following reports earlier this month that Moyes was a big admirer of Lyon’s £30million forward.

Garcia’s preference to bench Dembele was also said to have displeased the attacker previously courted by Manchester United, and one who now may be offered a shot to prove himself in the Premier League at the London Stadium.

Lyon Sporting Director Juninho did not move to reject the idea that Dembele could leave the Groupama Stadium this summer, but was insistent the Ligue 1 outfit were not intending to strike a deal.

"It is not planned to sell Houssem [Aouar], Memphis [Depay] and Moussa at the same time,” he said, via quotes by Goal. “If that happened, we would look for players of the same level on the market.

“The departure of the three together is not planned. [But] they attract the market. There have been clubs in for Houssem for a long time. Moussa? He is a real goalscorer. There are not many options like him in the market.”

Dembele’s gain, Haller’s loss

While said to be a big admirer of Dembele’s talents, Moyes was also claimed to consider the Frenchman as a potential replacement for Haller after growing opposed to fielding the Manuel Pellegrini signing prior to Michail Antonio’s hamstring injury.

Haller initially failed to respond to the call when handed his chance from the bench against Manchester City or in his first start of the league campaign at Liverpool, but Moyes now feels the Ivory Coast international has finally shook the monkey from his back after smashing home the winner in last weekend’s 1-0 victory over Sheffield United.

“I have noticed a change in his confidence, he is upbeat, maybe being away for the first time [helped],” the Irons boss said, via quotes by football.london. “I thought parts of his game were really good.”

Haller left Aaron Ramsdale with no chance of saving his strike and will be hoping to extend his upbeat run at home to Aston Villa on Monday night, but for how much longer he will be afforded opportunities to impress Moyes remains to be seen with the Scot seemingly on the search for alternative options.

Dembele would be unlikely to sign for West Ham in January if he feels he would only be left on the bench at the London Stadium, too, having endured those circumstances already this season but for a side competing for Champions League qualification.

AND in other news, a “commanding figure” could be set to leave West Ham in the January window.