West Ham United have made an offer in a bid to bring James Tarkowski to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What's the talk?

That's according to a claim made by ExWHUemployee, with the club insider revealing on a recent episode of The West Ham Way podcast that David Moyes and his West Ham transfer team are very much interested in a deal for the England international this month.

They are even thought to have launched an offer of around £7m-£8m in a bid to test the waters with Burnley regarding the sale of the centre-back.

Speaking about the Hammers' interest in the 29-year-old, Ex said: "We definitely want him. Moyes is definitely interested in him. We bid £30m for him in the summer, we definitely are interested now. I think we might have even put in a £7m or £8m bid already, just to test the water.

"However, there's no rush to sign him as such. I mean, I know there is in the sense that we've got games and the Europa League and the FA Cup to compete for, but in terms of the bigger picture, he's a free transfer in the summer."

Moyes desperately needs him

While Kurt Zouma looks as if he is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a hamstring injury sustained towards the beginning of December, the fact remains that West Ham will be without the services of Angelo Ogbonna for the remainder of the season.

That means that, should Moyes wish to give his side the best possible chance of securing Champions League football at the London Stadium next season, the 58-year-old simply must sign a new centre-back this January.

It would appear as if this is an opinion the manager himself agrees with, with the Scot recently stating: "We could probably do with some more cover after Angelo Ogbonna's season-long injury. If I can get Kurt back quickly that eases the pressure in central defensive areas. But we are always looking to strengthen here, we are always looking to find players who can help us or improve us."

And, considering just how impressive Tarkowski has been for Burnley so far this season, the 29-year-old would appear to make a fantastic addition to Moyes' current options in the heart of his West Ham defence.

Indeed, over his 16 Premier League outings in the current campaign, the £19.8m-rated defender has helped his side keep two clean sheets, scored one goal and registered two assists, as well as making an average of 1.4 interceptions, 1.6 tackles, 5.1 clearances and winning 7.3 of his duels per game.

These returns have seen the £70k-per-week man average a SofaScore match rating of 7.15, ranking him as Sean Dyche's second-best performer in the league this season.

As such, while the early return of Zouma will undoubtedly come as a huge boost to West Ham's top-four hopes, it is undeniable that Moyes desperately needs a fresh face at centre-back if he is to break into the Champions League places this season, with the player who Dyche dubbed an "outstanding" talent appearing to be an excellent option for the Hammers.

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