West Ham are one of four clubs that have “already made contact” with Atalanta about signing attacking midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi, according to Calciomercato.com.

The Italian website claims that the Hammers have registered their interest with the Serie A club’s president Antonio Percassi, along with the likes of Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and Marseille.

Malinvoskyi will not be available on the cheap, though. Atalanta will only accept offers that are “not under €30m (£26m)” so it remains to be seen if West Ham are prepared to pay that much for the player.

The Ukrainian international has only started four out of a possible 12 league games this season, with manager Gian Piero Gasperini favouring the likes of Mario Pasalic and Ademola Lookman ahead of him.

Irons boss David Moyes could well be interested in Malinovskyi’s ability to play in a number of positions, as well as the fact that he could inject some much-needed creativity into a team that has been struggling in the final third so far this season.