West Ham to make history with signing of Super Eagles striker Victor Boniface

English Premier League side, West Ham are ‘ready to smash their transfer record’ to sign Victor Boniface from Bayer Leverkusen.

Boniface joined the Bundesliga side from Union SG for £19m in the summer and has hit the ground running under Xabi Alonso, scoring ten goals in the German top flight to help them to the summit, and 16 in all competitions.

An adductor injury has kept the Nigeria international out of the Africa Cup of Nations, but what is expected to be a relatively short-term injury hasn’t put West Ham off.

The Sun claim Hammers technical director Tim Steidten – who previously worked at Leverkusen – is ‘pushing for the massive swoop and could pull it off before the window shuts’.

West Ham have also made a surprise inquiry for Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran, who wants more game time having played second fiddle to Ollie Watkins throughout this season.

But it’s thought Villa are unlikely to do business for Duran, who has other admirers including Chelsea, unless there is a big offer rather than a loan deal on the table.