West Ham United are drawing up a list of forward targets for this month with Brighton’s Evan Ferguson, Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang Hee-chan and Middlesbrough’s Emmanuel Latte Lath among those under consideration.

Injuries to Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen have left West Ham short of forwards and addressing that area of the pitch is the club’s top priority in January, although the Hammers are also looking at midfielders.

West Ham would ideally like to take players on loan this month, although funds could be generated through sales for permanent moves.

As previously reported by Telegraph Sport, Ferguson has been touted for a loan move away from Brighton this month and it is believed the club would ideally like him to stay in the Premier League.

Ferguson has made 14 appearances for Brighton this season, scoring only one goal, but the 20-year-old Republic of Ireland international remains highly rated and has been tracked by a number of clubs.

It is understood West Ham have already made an enquiry about Ferguson but that Brighton want to be sure of Danny Welbeck’s fitness before making a decision on his future.

Wolves turned down a £21 million bid from Marseille for Hwang last summer and the South Korean has scored two goals in his last two games under new manager Vitor Pereira.

Lath has attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs, including Leicester City, having scored nine goals for Middlesbrough this season.

Heavy back-to-back defeats to Liverpool and Manchester City have piled pressure back on manager Julen Lopetegui ahead of West Ham’s FA Cup trip to Aston Villa on Friday.

It is believed the club’s focus is currently on trying to strengthen Lopetegui’s squad rather than working on replacing the manager, although that situation could change.

Other than drawing up a list of forward targets, West Ham would like to sign a new midfielder this month with Chelsea pair Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carney Chukwuemeka on the club’s radar.

This month is rated as an important one for technical director Tim Steidten, who, like Lopetegui, is under pressure following the failure of West Ham’s summer signings to make the kind of impact that was hoped for.

Should West Ham ultimately be forced into a managerial change, then it is believed Graham Potter could be open to taking the job on an initial contract until the end of the season.