West Ham have made a move for FC Lorient star Alexis Claude-Maurice (Picture: Getty)

West Ham appear to have stolen a march on Premier League rivals Arsenal in the pursuit of FC Lorient striker Alexis Claude-Maurice by submitting a £10m bid for him.

The 21-year-old forward is expected to leave Lorient this summer following their failure to seal promotion to Ligue 1 and has been tipped to move to England with newly-promoted Norwich City also interested.

Claude-Maurice, who is a France Under-20 international, netted 14 goals in 35 league matches last season and has also been linked with Monaco, Lille and Frankfurt.

Arsenal, operating under a strict transfer budget of around £40m this summer, were reported to have put together a £9m deal for Claude-Maurice last month.


Arsenal are also said to be interested in Claude-Maurice (Picture: Getty)

Unai Emery has also been looking for Matteo Guendouzi to help convince Claude-Maurice that his future lies at the Emirates as the midfielder played alongside him at Lorient.



However, Arsenal now look to be in danger of missing out on the versatile attacker after West Ham firmed up their interest with an official offer.

Manuel Pellegrini is looking to assemble a squad capable of finishing higher than last season’s 10th place in the Premier League and is eager to get his business done early.

The Hammers have already signed two goalkeepers with Roberto and David Martin both joining on free transfers while the club have also launched a bid for Barcelona’s Andre Gomes.