"?West Ham are reportedly considering an audacious attempt to sign German international Mario Gomez from Fiorentina.
The German scored an impressive 28 goals in 41 appearances on loan at Besiktas last season, but is rumoured to favour a move elsewhere because of what he believes to be an unstable political situation in Turkey.
According to "?the Mirror, Gomez is now a priority for the Hammers after they agreed a £16m fee with West Brom to sell wantaway forward Diafra Sakho. But that deal is far from completed after it was revealed that Sunderland and Crystal Palace are also interested in signing the Senegalese striker.
To add to their apparent Sakho agreement, West Ham are also on the look-out for another striker because their original number one target, Carlos Bacca, has stalled on negotiations.
Bacca's club AC Milan and West Ham have already reportedly settled on a £26m fee but the striker is dragging his heels over an improved offer, despite a cool £95k per-week deal sitting on the table.
So Mario Gomez is the newest name in the mix and would join his former teammate Gokhan Tore at the Olympic Stadium, who has already signed on a season-long loan deal from Besiktas.
Gomez has a terrific goal-scoring record at every club he's been at, excluding Fiorentina where he was shipped out on loan before getting the chance to prove his worth.
But with West Ham looking to improve on their impressive seventh-place Premier League finish of last season and Europa League success, a striker like Gomez could be exactly what Slaven Bilic's men need.