Southampton transfer target would prefer to join West Ham United | OneFootball

West Ham United have jumped ahead of Southampton as they lead the transfer race for Brighton star Evan Ferguson.

Southampton are believed to be interested in signing Evan Ferguson from Brighton and Hove Albion in the January transfer window. However, the Saints will face competition from West Ham United and Leicester City.

Evan Ferguson, despite breaking through with impressive Premier League form in the last few seasons, have fallen down the Brighton and Hove Albion pecking order. Now, the Ireland international is believed to be on the lookout for a chance to redeem his career elsewhere.

There is no denying that he would be an excellent coup for clubs in the lower half of the table - Hence why Leicester, Southampton and West Ham have all shown an interest.

Southampton transfer target would prefer to join West Ham United

According to an exclusive report by Danny Rust and Dean Jones of Give Me Sport, West Ham United have now moved to the front of the queue and they lead the race to sign Evan Ferguson.

The Hammers are aware of recruitment competition from Southampton and Leicester. Yet, they remain confident they can land the Brighton star to add to their long-term and ambitious project.

An unfortunate element of this story which we would be remiss not to mention is the status of Michail Antonio. Due to unfortunate circumstances outside of football, Antonio will miss a large chunk of action with West Ham. The priority, of course, is to improve his health.

This does mean that West Ham would like to sign a goal-scorer to fill the gap left behind by Antonio. This fact is despite Niclas Fullkrug being signed in the summer transfer window.

West Ham are likely, then, to land Evan Ferguson on loan until the end of the season. The reason why GMS believe West Ham are beating Southampton and Leicester is due to the simple reason of West Ham being a more attractive proposition to the player.

It is hard to argue against this, at least from Southampton's perspective. So far this season, they have shown a lack of creativity, which does not appeal to any hungry striker.

Who knows what could happen between now and the January transfer window, though? Hopefully, a new manager will come into St Marys and inspire an attacking philosophy which was lacking under Russell Martin. As it stands, though, Southampton do lack pulling power for the top players.