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Eintracht Frankfurt forward Sebastien Haller has become the leading candidate to replace Marko Arnautovic at West Ham.

Maxi Gomez had previously been tipped as the club's top signing prior to leaving Celta Vigo to join Valencia.

The Hammers sold Arnautovic to Shanghai SIPG earlier in the summer transfer window to bring to a close a saga that derailed the Austrian's form last season.

He had reinvented himself as a leading Premier League striker at West Ham prior to going off the boil and at one point was even linked with Chelsea and Manchester United.

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Under Manuel Pellegrini, the Irons finished 10th and the Chilean has been set the challenge of qualifying for Europe this season by the club's owners.

Even though Arnautovic may have lost his potency in the second half of his final campaign at the London Stadium, West Ham will need a striker to replace him to mount a charge for the Europa League places and beyond.

According to L'Equipe in France, a deal has been agreed with Frankfurt to sign Haller worth €40million, or around £35million at current exchange rates.

(Image: TF-Images/Getty Images)

He had initially rebuffed interest from east London to hold out for a move to a Champions League club after scoring 15 goals and bagging nine assists in the Bundesliga last season.

The French outlet claim that he has had a change of heart with West Ham now set to enter discussions over personal terms after settling on a fee with Frankfurt.

Representatives for Haller are due in London to open talks over a move that could see Pellegrini find a suitable replacement to both Arnautovic and Andy Carroll, who was released at the start of the summer.

A determined centre-forward with pace and the ability to play as the target man, the Frenchman would cover the roles of both former Hammers.

If he were to move to the London Stadium, West Ham would become his fourth club as a senior professional after coming up through the ranks at Auxerre.

He joined Frankfurt in 2017 following an impressive spell with Utrecht in the Dutch Eredivisie.