West Ham have expressed an interest in signing Marcus Rashford from Manchester United as they come to terms with the loss of strikers Niclas Füllkrug and Michail Antonio to injury.

Telegraph Sport understands that informal talks have recently taken place to assess whether the London club’s pursuit is a realistic one.

West Ham would be keen on a loan move for the England international, but it is not clear how much of his wages they would be willing to cover or what sort of loan fee, if any, they would pay to United.

Whether Rashford, who has already turned down a move to Saudi Arabia this month, would be interested in a switch to east London is also a doubt, although the options available to the 27-year-old look limited.

The forward has expressed a desire to remain in a top European league as he still believes he is good enough to not only rediscover his form at club level, but also to force his way back into the England squad under Thomas Tuchel.

Under new manager Graham Potter, West Ham are trying to revive their season and Rashford’s close friend, Jesse Lingard, benefited from a hugely successful loan spell at the club in 2021.

Rashford’s chances of earning redemption at United seem slim and manager Ruben Amorim would prefer him to leave this month rather than remain as a constant distraction.

United’s problem is clubs know they want to move Rashford on and the player has also publicly expressed his desire “for a new challenge” which weakens their hand in any negotiations.

They are almost certainly going to have to continue paying a large chunk of Rashford’s £325,000-a-week wages even if he does leave in this transfer window.

Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Napoli are all understood to have an interest in signing Rashford, as do French club Monaco.

But West Ham have asked to be kept informed of developments and the move could end up becoming more attractive to Rashford as deadline day gets closer.