Liverpool and West Ham set to battle to sign £20m striker

West Ham look set to challenge Liverpool for the signing of Sassoulo striker Gregoire Defrel, according to reports.

Slaven Bilic is desperate to find another striker to help ease West Ham’s goalscoring issues and it looks like he’s identified the 25-year-old as a possible solution.

Defrel is actually the player who Sassoulo signed when they lost Simone Zaza to Juventus and, in a strange twist of fate, he could be about to be signed to replace the Italian once again.

West Ham look keen to get rid of Zaza as soon as possible, but by doing so, they will be slightly short in terms of strikers, especially as they can’t rely on Andy Carroll staying fit.

Defrel, who has also been scouted by Liverpool in recent weeks, would cost around £20million to sign so Bilic will need the owners to allow him to spend such a large amount if he wishes to secure a deal for the Frenchman.