West Ham eyeing loan swoop for Manchester City forward after Brighton table £30M permanent bid

West Ham are looking to take Cole Palmer on loan as they negotiate a deal for Lucas Paqueta with Manchester City, as per reports.

Palmer has attracted widespread interest from clubs in England and abroad as it remains to be seen what this season holds for the U-21 England star, who struggled for first-team minutes under Pep Guardiola last season.

However, the 21-year-old’s stock has risen after he scored a brilliant goal in Manchester City’s Community Shield defeat to Arsenal at Wembley, before coming on as a substitute in the Blues’ Premier League opening day win against Burnley on Friday.

Manchester City are in the market for a replacement for Riyad Mahrez, who joined Saudi-Arabian side Al-Ahli for £30 million. Rennes winger Jeremy Doku has been strongly linked and Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise is also of interest.

Moreover, City remain keen to bolster their midfield outlets after Ilkay Gundogan joined Barcelona in June and despite the signing of Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea, Guardiola has his eyes set on West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta.

Paqueta has been identified as a potential replacement for Gundogan and with Kevin De Bruyne potentially out for a significant period as he recovers from a hamstring injury, Manchester City are expected to intensify their pursuit of the 25-year-old Brazilian.

As per Jacob Steinberg of The Guardian, West Ham are attempting to include a loan deal for Palmer in negotiations with Manchester City over Paqueta.

David Moyes is understood to be a huge admirer of Palmer, who has risen through the academy ranks at the Etihad Stadium but is keen on regular first-team football to progress his development further.

A decision on one of their brightest academy graduates is yet to be made by Manchester City, who rebuffed a permanent offer worth £30 million from Brighton for the Wythenshawe-born attacker earlier in the window, according to Mike McGrath of The Telegraph.