West Ham United are looking at a deal for Eddie Nketiah this summer, encouraged by Arsenal’s contract extension for Folarin Balogun.

The Evening Standard report that West Ham want to sign a new striker in the summer window, and Eddie Nketiah is one of the players on their shortlist along with Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri. David Moyes is a fan of the striker and believes he suits their style of play.

West Ham initially looked at signing Nketiah in January, but Arsenal weren’t open to offers at the time. The Hammers are hoping that stance will have changed as a result of Folarin Balogun’s new deal with the club.

With Balogun previously on the way out as a free agent, Arsenal may well have decided to ignore any bids for Nketiah again this summer. But now that Balogun’s on a four-year deal and Nketiah is months away from the final year of his contract, it’s a different story.

At the start of the season, Nketiah was a pretty regular presence in Mikel Arteta’s Premier League team. He made three starts and nine substitute appearances in the league before Christmas despite having Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for competition.

But since Christmas, it’s been a different story. Nketiah has played 11 Premier League minutes in 17 matches, and he stopped making the squad altogether for an eight-game stretch at one stage.

During the Europa League group stage, Nketiah was a regular starter and scored three in six games. But again, he’s dropped out of the starting lineup entirely since the knockout stages began.

All the signs point towards Arsenal deciding to cash in this summer, with no reports of ongoing contract extension negotiations and little evidence they’re planning to use him in the last month or so of the season.

Now it’s just about getting the best possible fee for the 21-year-old, and interest from a fellow Premier League club will certainly help with that.