West Ham eye Sunderland’s Didier Ndong after growing impatient in pursuit of William Carvalho

West Ham, frustrated by the lack of progress over their protracted efforts to sign Portuguese international midfield player William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon, are considering a bid for Sunderland’s Didier Ndong.

Carvalho remains West Ham manager Slaven Bilic’s preference and talks are continuing. There remains a significant gap however - around £5million - between Sporting Lisbon’s £37.5 million asking price and the East London club’s latest offer.

There is also no agreement yet on when the £5million of performance related bonuses should be paid plus the bulk of the transfer fee, with Sporting keen on £20million up front and the rest paid early next year.

With that uncertainty, West Ham have looked at options, notably Sunderland’s 23-year-old midfield player Ndong.

The Gabon international has impressed since joining Sunderland from Lorient for £13.6 million two years ago and would be appreciably cheaper than Carvalho.