Leicester hope to convince Burnley to sell James Tarkowski after making a bid of more than £30m for the centre-back. Although Leicester are trying to sign Wesley Fofana from St-Étienne, they have also long held an interest in Tarkowski and have had one offer knocked back by Burnley. They hope their latest proposal will be enough to land the 28-year-old, who has also been targeted by West Ham.
Burnley have demanded as much as £50m for Tarkowski, who believes that moving to a bigger club will help his chances of regaining a place in the England squad, and have turned down several offers from West Ham. David Sullivan, West Ham’s co-owner, indicated this week that the defender could be too expensive. It is understood the chances of Tarkowski, who is interested in joining Leicester, moving to the London Stadium are slim.
West Ham are also rivalling Leicester for Fofana, regarded as one of the brightest young prospects in Europe. However, Leicester remain favourites to sign him. The club’s manager, Brendan Rodgers, watched the 19-year-old before lockdown and the head of recruitment, Lee Congerton, has scouted him extensively.
However St-Étienne have rebuffed Leicester’s attempts to sign Fofana so far. Claude Puel, the former Leicester manager, would prefer to keep the youngster for another season.
With St-Étienne proving tough to crack, Leicester have revived their interest in Tarkowski. Rodgers needs defensive reinforcements, with his only experienced centre-backs being Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu and Wes Morgan.
West Ham also need to strengthen their defence. Along with targeting Fofana and Tarkowski, David Moyes has also considered moves for Swansea’s Joe Rodon and Arsenal’s Calum Chambers.
Moyes would also like signings in other positions. West Ham are one of the clubs interested in signing the midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan from Chelsea.
