According to reports, West Ham are ‘leading the race’ for Leicester City attacker Harvey Barnes, who is also being targeted by Newcastle and Tottenham.

The 25-year-old winger has been one of Leicester City’s best players over the past couple of seasons.

Barnes scored 13 Premier League goals in 2022/23 as the Foxes ultimately suffered relegation to the Championship on the final day of the season.

Leicester are expected to overhaul their squad this summer and Barnes is a Premier League-calibre player who should earn himself a move back to the top flight.

On Thursday morning, it was reported that Barnes is one of five relegated players being pursued by Newcastle United as they attempt to ‘try to be clever’ in the transfer market.

But The Telegraph are reporting that ‘West Ham are at the front of the queue to sign Leicester City winger Barnes’.

This news comes about after the Hammers beat Fiorentina 2-1 in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday night. This is the first major trophy the Londoners have won since 1980 and it sees them qualify for next season’s Europa League.

West Ham will have funds at their disposal this summer as star player Declan Rice is being targeted by Arsenal, Man Utd and Bayern Munich and he could be sold for as much as £90m.

The report from The Telegraph adds: ‘Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United are interested in Barnes but West Ham have made the most serious move so far and are expected to open negotiations with Leicester now their season is over.

‘Leicester are thought to value Barnes at around £40 million but relegation means that figure is expected to drop with West Ham likely to start the bidding closer to £30 million.’

READ MORE: West Ham and Beckham doing East End proud after Europa and Messi triumphs…

Replacing Declan Rice is described as West Ham’s ‘biggest task’ this summer, with Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse and Man City’s Kalvin Phillips mentioned as potential targets.

Speaking after West Ham lifted the Europa Conference League, Rice indicated that offers are yet to come in for him from rival clubs.

“Look at the moment there’s a lot of speculation about my future,” Rice told BT Sport.

“There is interest from other clubs, that’s out there, but ultimately I’ve still got two years left at West Ham. There hasn’t been nothing yet (offers). Let’s wait and see, who knows.

“I love every minute of it here, you can see the smile on my face. It’s not about that tonight, it’s about celebrating and that’s what I’m going to do now.”

READ MORE: Bowen takes place in West Ham folklore as perfect late moment transforms season of struggle to stunning success story

The article West Ham ‘most serious’ about signing £30m Newcastle, Spurs target and Hammers ‘lead the race’ appeared first on Football365.com.