Ivan Toney is eyeing a Premier League return less than two years after leaving for Saudi Arabia.
Toney left England in August 2024, signing for Al Ahli from Brentford for a fee of £40 million.
The striker is understood to earn around £400,000-a-week as part of his contract with Al Ahli, where he has scored 39 goals in 56 appearances and fired the team to the AFC Champions League last term.
Teammates with the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Franck Kessie and Edouard Mendy, Toney still has a contract until 2028.
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However, fresh reports claim that the 29-year-old wants to leave Saudi Arabia earlier than that - with Toney keen on coming back to England's top flight.
According to the respected Alan Nixon on his Patreon site, struggling West Ham have a strong interest in Toney and are working on a deal.
The Hammers are down in 19th in the Premier League with just a single win from their opening eight games.
They have also struggled in the goals department, having only found the net on six occasions.
It's claimed that Toney is open to moving on in the January window as he still harbours hopes of getting into Thomas Tuchel's England squad for the World Cup in North America.
Toney has not featured for England since coming on as a late substitute in a 3-1 loss to Senegal in June in what was Tuchel's first defeat as Three Lions boss.
It was his seventh cap for England, having debuted in 2023 against Ukraine and featured at Euro 2024 as Gareth Southgate's men reached the finals.
Commenting on Toney not being used until the 88th minute when he came on for Myles Lewis-Skelly, Tuchel said: "Ivan is strongest when we have a phase where we have a lot of balls in the box and that was the case, so after 80 minutes we got him ready".
West Ham are exploring ways in which they can make the deal happen from a financial perspective and will likely look to do a loan deal where they cover the majority of his wages.
There may also be some tax issues for Toney get around in order to complete his desired move.
He has nine goals and two assists in 12 appearances in all competitions this season.
Topics: Ivan Toney, England, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Pro League
Josh Lawless