West Ham eye Giroud for record £20m

West Ham are challenging Lyon for the signing of Olivier Giroud and are ready to make the France and Arsenal striker the most expensive player in their history.

Arsenal are trying to complete their own club-record deal for Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette that will place a further question mark over Giroud and, while Arsène Wenger would still ideally like to keep his range of attacking options, he knows that the 30-year-old wants regular first-team football ahead of next summer’s World Cup.

It means Arsenal are likely to be open to selling Giroud if they can complete a deal for Lacazette and West Ham would like to make the 29-year-old the attacking centrepiece of their summer. They are understood to be willing to match or even marginally exceed Giroud’s current £120,000-a-week salary and pay a transfer fee of around £20million for a player with three years remaining on his contract.

Although Arsenal are still hoping to sign two from Lacazette and Monaco’s Kylian Mbappé and Thomas Lemar, they are also preparing for departures.

As well as Giroud, Alex Oxladechamberlain could leave in search of more regular first-team football. Wojciech Szczesny is likely to go, with Juventus interested following his loan spell with Roma, while the futures of Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson, David Ospina and Mathieu Debuchy are also uncertain.

Alexis Sánchez is another expected to leave and, while Mesut Özil has been seeking a higher contract offer, he is understood to have fewer alternatives.