West Ham winger Maxwel Cornet is closing in on a six-month loan move to Genoa.

Standard Sport understands the Ivorian’s loan spell at Southampton will be terminated in order for him to move to the Serie A side, who have booked him in for a medical.

Cornet, who will work under manager Patrick Vieira at Genoa, has not played for Southampton since October, during an ill-fated loan spell which has seen him make just four appearances and no Premier League starts.

28-year-old Cornet has scored once in 37 appearances for the Hammers since signing for the East London club in 2022 from Burnley. He has 31 caps for the Ivory Coast.

West Ham are actively looking to sign a striker this month after a raft of injuries left them short in the position.

Captain Jarrod Bowen is back on the grass but currently sidelined after fracturing his left foot. Michail Antonio is out for the season following his involvement in a car accident in December, while summing signing Niclas Fullkrug suffered a serious hamstring injury in Graham Potter’s first game in charge against Aston Villa and is out for months.

The Hammers hold an interest in Rodrigo Muniz but are very unlikely to be able to convince Fulham to let the Brazilian leave.

They are also keen on Brighton striker Evan Ferguson and briefly considered approaching Manchester United over Marcus Rashford, before discovering the logistics of a deal were too complicated and that it wouldn’t be possible.