West Ham are interested in Sunderland centre-back Daniel Ballard.
The Northern Ireland international moved to the Black Cats last summer in a £2million deal with Arsenal.
Ballard has impressed for Sunderland and his absence was felt when he missed the Championship play-off semi-finals amid a defensive injury crisis.
The 23-year-old is now attracting interest from West Ham as well as other clubs in England and abroad.
The Hammers are in the market for a centre-back this summer after selling Craig Dawson in January and not signing a replacement.
West Ham currently have four on their books but Thilo Kehrer often fills in at right-back and Angelo Ogbonna, who is expected to sign a new one-year contract, turned 35 last month. First-choice pairing Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd both had injury problems this season.
West Ham boss David Moyes is making a conscious effort to target British-based players this summer and they are also interested in Bristol City midfielder Alex Scott.
Ballard joined Arsenal at the age of eight and came through their academy before having several loan spells.
A serious knee injury disrupted his time at Swindon, but he impressed at both Blackpool and Millwall.
There was plenty of interest in Ballard last summer after he and Arsenal decided it was time for him to leave permanently to secure regular first-team football.
Burnley had been close to securing a move for him but a deal fell through late on during the process.
