Transfer News: West Ham target Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson

According to the Express, West Ham are eyeing a £20 million move for Swansea City star Gylfi Sigurdsson as a replacement for want-away Dimitri Payet. The Iceland international has scored five goals and has six assists this season and is a transfer target for Everton as well.

West Ham will have to pay quite the price to pry the 27-year-old from the Welsh club. The creative midfielder signed a four-year contract with Swansea in the summer. On top of that, Paul Clement, new Swansea manager, has expressed his desire to keep stars Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente with the Swans sitting in 19th place in the Premier League.

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“You need to keep your best players and Gylfi and Fernando are two of the best players the team has got,” Clement said. “I've enjoyed working with both of them already, they appear to be very motivated and focused on what we need to do to move this team forward.

"I can't say anything will or won't happen, and there's a lot of speculation and gossip. But there's been no conversation between me and the players, the players and the club, or the players and other clubs.”

Sigurdsson could join his former teammate Andre Ayew at the London Stadium. Ayew joined the Hammers in the summer for a £20.5 million fee, and has scored one goal for West Ham, coming in the 4-1 rout of Swansea in December. The Ghanaian international is away with his country at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Sigurdsson would be an ideal replacement for Payet in terms of creativity and positioning. Sigurdsson can play anywhere in the midfield, but has six appearances this season on the left side of the Swansea attack.