West Ham are ready to give up on their pursuit of Portugal international William Carvalho and plan to bid for Sunderland's Didier Ndong if they don't make a breakthrough in talks with Sporting Clube de Portugal.
Ndong was a club-record signing for Sunderland when he arrived on deadline day last August but he couldn't help them avoid relegation. The 23-year-old Gabon international is ready to leave the Black Cats in search of top-flight football in England or France, but has struggled to find Ligue 1 sides capable of paying his wages. Leicester City were among the Premier League sides to show interest but West Ham now look likely to lead the chase for the former Lorient man after getting frustrated in talks with Sporting over William Carvalho.
The Hammers had great hopes that Carvalho, once considered one of Europe's best young players, might be a big splash signing for them this summer.
But there is anger at the London Stadium that Sporting have moved the goalposts on the fee, with the Portuguese giants now demanding £36.5m from the east Londoners.
Personal terms are not expected to be a problem, with West Ham ready to make Carvalho one of their highest-paid players and vastly increase his current salary. Should Sporting not relent, however, Ndong is ready to make the move south to return to the Premier League.
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