West Ham did not manage to sign James Tarkowski in the summer transfer window.
Following the sale of Grady Diangana to West Bromwich Albion, the Hammers seemed set to focus their attentions on signing a central defender.
There were multiple attempts to bring the Burnley defender to the club, with a number of bids tabled, but they did not manage to get a deal over the line.
Instead, they switched their attention to Watford’s Craig Dawson, bringing him in on loan, though he has yet to make his debut at the club.
Nevertheless, Tarkowski’s future remains up in the air.
The Burnley defender has made it clear he has no plans to sign a new contract at Turf Moor and that has opened the door to a potential exit in either the summer or the January transfer window.
And Darren Bent, the former Premier League striker, believes that the club are almost guaranteed to make another bid for Tarkowski next year, should he still be available.
Speaking to Football Insider, when asked about an offer, he said: “Yes, I fully expect them to.
“He’s certainly a player that I really like. He’s very good, he defends really well.
“He’s right in what he’s saying. Burnley have done very well up to a point but then you start to think to yourself ‘what are Burnely’s ambitions? Are they trying to win trophies? Or do they just want to stay in the Premier League again?’
“That’s not just Tarkowski either, that’s a number of their players, I’d even put the manager in that as well.
“We’ve heard Sean Dyche come out and say investment in the club hasn’t been enough.
“Tarkowski wants a fresh challenge and wants to play at the next level and you can’t crucify him for that, you commend him.
“Hendrick left on a free last year and you can’t let your best players leave on a free.”
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
West Ham should almost certainly be looking to sign Tarkowski.
Burnley were holding out for a fee of £50m in the summer but it seems that figure could fall in the coming months as Tarkowski’s contract runs down.
He has made a total of 149 appearances for the Clarets and has also won two caps for England. He is valued at £25.2m by Transfermarkt.
This is a properly experienced Premier League player and he is undoubtedly a better defender than Dawson, who was plucked from the Championship.
A move at a reduced fee for Tarkowski would be a brilliant deal for the Hammers.