Javier Hernández is wanted by Valencia and is keen to join the Spanish club but West Ham will not allow him to leave unless they can bring in another striker.

Valencia want a loan deal for Hernández, whereas West Ham would prefer a sale – if they do business at all. They are facing the possibility of losing another forward, Marko Arnautovic, to an unnamed Chinese club, and regard Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson as his ideal replacement.

Hernández has scored 13 goals in 49 appearances for West Ham but many of those have come from the bench and he would like to join what would be the sixth club of his professional career.

Fulham have signed Ryan Babel from Besiktas until the end of the season. The 32-year-old, who made 146 appearances for Liverpool, is the first arrival of the Claudio Ranieri era. Babel, who came through the ranks at Ajax, has also had spells with Hoffenheim, the Turkish side Kasimpasa and the United Arab Emirates club Al Ain,

Crystal Palace are in the process of securing the Brazilian goalkeeper Lucas Perri from São Paulo on loan with a view to a permanent deal. The youngster is considered a player of considerable potential, but will initially arrive to provide cover for the injured Vicente Guaita and Wayne Hennessey.

Perri, who has Italian citizenship, was first scouted by Palace back in November and will join until the end of the season so the Premier League club, who have beaten off competition from Fiorentina to secure the 21-year-old, can assess him first-hand. However, they have already negotiated an option with São Paulo to secure him on a more long-term basis for around £3.3m in the summer.

The paperwork around the deal will most likely not be concluded until next week, with the 39-year-old Julián Speroni expected to make his first appearance since December 2017, and his 404th for Palace, in Saturday’s trip to Liverpool.

Meanwhile the former England defender Steven Caulker has signed for the Turkish Super League club Alanyaspor after a period training there.