West Ham United are ‘on the lookout’ for defenders after being linked with a move for Sheffield United’s John Egan, according to journalist Dean Jones.

The 29-year-old has reportedly cropped up on the Hammers’ radar in recent weeks as they are already putting plans in place to strengthen their backline in the January window.

What is the latest news involving Egan?

A recent report from The Sun claims that West Ham are plotting a swoop for Egan over the winter after manager David Moyes was rebuffed in his efforts to bring him into the club during the summer.

It’s claimed that the capital club will have to cough up £12 million to secure the Republic of Ireland international’s signature, though, despite him turning 30 next month.

Sheffield United’s hierarchy could be open to doing a deal for Egan considering his contract only has 18 months or so left to run, and the player may be tempted by the prospect of a Premier League return.

The arrival of the versatile centre-back should allow Craig Dawson to finally depart West Ham, who is eager to return to the Midlands for family reasons.

Moyes’ charges were supposedly demanding around £7m for Dawson in the previous window but are expected to drop that figure after he entered the final year of his existing deal.

What has Jones said about Egan?

Jones has revealed his ‘main surprise’ over the speculation is that West Ham didn’t launch a formal offer for Egan during the summer despite the heart of defence being an obvious weakness.

In an interview with GiveMeSport, he said: “My main surprise is that he's not a guy they really considered during the whole of the summer.

“So obviously, we know they're on the lookout for future defenders, and there was probably one more signing potentially on the cards they could have done in that area.”

Would Egan be a good signing?

Egan has a decent amount of Premier League experience under his belt having turned out 67 times for the Blades during their two-year stay in the top-flight.

And the 6 foot ace has continued to excel since dropping back into the Championship, putting up some impressive underlying numbers this season, leading to him being labelled "unreal".

As per WhoScored, Egan has bettered his teammate's tallies for clearances and blocks while on league duty, averaging 4.3 and 0.8 per game respectively, while also placing third for long balls (3.9).

It remains to be seen if West Ham actually follow up their interest in Egan with a bid this time around, but he could be an astute purchase by Moyes and co.