West Ham are desperately scouring the Premier League for the answer to their problems up front this season.
Slaven Bilic is hoping for a loan deal for a top striker who can help his side into the top half, with the Hammers struggling for goals.
Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho have both scored just once in the Premier League this term, while summer signing Andre Ayew is yet to find the back of the net amid injury problems.
The less said about Simone Zaza, the better, and the club are now even thought to be considering terminating his loan deal early, such have been his woes in East London.
However, the Telegraph report that Bilic may have identified two players who could get West Ham scoring goals again – and they both play for Manchester United.
Bilic would like Jose Mourinho to lend him either Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial, both of whom have struggled under the Portuguese.
It’s almost a month since Rashford last started a game, and as a 19-year-old, United may feel he would benefit from the experience of a loan spell at another Premier League club.
Martial, meanwhile, is struggling for consistency, and although it seems unlikely that Mourinho would want him to leave, there’s no harm in West Ham asking.
This is the policy they seem to be aiming for in January, though it isn’t set to yield fruit in their audacious loan bid for Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi.
With the Blues reluctant to lose the Belgian, West Ham are also keen to ask Liverpool about the availability of Daniel Sturridge.
It remains to be seen whether Bilic even tries to keep hold of wantaway star Dimitri Payet, with fans growing increasingly tired of his come-and-get-me pleas to Champions League clubs.
That would make bringing in another goalscorer even more of a priority, and it’ll certainly be interesting to see how United respond.
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