West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is reportedly flying out to Germany on Saturday in order to run the rule over Nurnberg striker Josip Drmic, with the Hammers having no league game this weekend due to Arsenal’s involvement in the FA Cup, according to the Daily Mail.
Drmic is expected to leave Nurnberg in the summer with a host of clubs around Europe strongly linked with a move for the Swiss forward and Allardyce is hoping that he can lure him to Upton Park in the summer.
Arsenal are one of those clubs that are rumoured to be keen on bringing Drmic to the Premier League, with Arsene Wenger looking to bring in some competition for the flagging Olivier Giroud in the summer, while Liverpool, Everton and Borussia Dortmund have all reportedly enquired about him.
Former German captain Lothar Mattheus had claimed that Drmic had agreed a move to Arsenal, but with no official announcement coming from either camp, Allardyce believes he still has a chance of landing the Swiss striker to help add fresh impetus to his Hammers side.
West Ham are in dire need of forward options in the summer, having had to rely on Carlton Cole for the majority of the season, with Andy Carroll having struggled with injuries for long stretches of the campaign.
Drmic still has three years left to run on his contract with the Bundesliga side, but has a reported release clause of £4.5million, which falls into West Ham’s price range.
Josip Drmic has scored 16 goals in 28 appearances for Nurnberg this season, converting 32.7% of his shots on goal this season.