West Ham United were linked with nearly 100 players in the Summer transfer window and may be expected to have a busy month in January, with David Moyes surely keen to add quality and depth as they continue to fight on four fronts.

What's the story?

Well known West Ham club insiders, Claret & Hugh, have dropped a new claim in the pursuit of James Tarkowski from Burnley in the winter transfer window.

The popular West Ham 'in the know' has reported (via Hammers News) that the Irons will make an offer of £5 million for the defender, in a bid to offer a cut price deal to Burnley in the winter transfer window, before he is available on a free transfer in the Summer of 2022.

Burnley are expected to demand £20m (Evening Standard) for the defender's signature, but they are of course unlikely to achieve that given his contract situation, with the Hammers planning to start the bidding off with £4m plus £1m in add-ons, a brilliantly ruthless bid.

Tarkowski is a proven Premier League defender with a fantastic defensive record for his club, playing a major role in establishing Burnley in the Premier League over the last few seasons.

The 29 year old has proven this season already that he is a valuable asset for whoever he signs for, winning 88 aerial duels and 29 tackles, putting him number one in the Premier League for aerial wins and holding the third best number of defensive interceptions too.

Burnley manager, Sean Dyche, labelled the defender a "top player" when discussing his contract situation at Burnley; “These situations sometimes occur, I’ve got no problem with Tarky whatsoever, he is a very, very good professional for us, he’s a top player in my opinion."

Absolute bargain

Fans will surely be buzzing about the promising signs coming out of the speculation surrounding the signing of Tarkowski, and one man in particular has taken to Twitter in the past to express his thoughts on the defender.

Former West Ham striker, Tony Cottee, tweeted; "Tarkowski is another good CB option and one I’d like to see at West Ham… A number of good PL players contracts coming to the end that we should look at."

The signing seems like a popular option, and ultimately even paying slightly above the rumoured £5 million for the £50,000-p/w defender is an absolute steal.

With his aforementioned defensive statistics showing his skills, you'd be hard pressed to find a player valued at £22.5m (Transfermarkt) with two England caps and 173 Premier League games under their belt for such a nominal fee. This is one the Hammers should absolutely be licking their lips at when the window opens in 2022.

In other news: Moyes should sign Dele Alli