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West Ham United appear to have stolen a march on fellow Barclays Premier League club Burnley by matching their bid for Hull City's top scorer Robert Snodgrass, Burnley had an offer accepted on Wednesday and, while both are believed to be in the region of £10 million, West Ham is believed to be the preferred destination for the player who has told friends and family how much he is looking forward to playing at The London Stadium. Hull, who are 19th in the Premier League, rejected a bid from the Hammers earlier this month for the 29 year old Scotland midfielder who has scored seven Premier League goals this season. The Tigers say the move is now down to the player and he has not yet gone for a medical at Burnley, Hull previously rejected an offer of around £6 million from West Ham for Snodgrass, who missed Sunday's 2 0 defeat at Chelsea with what manager Marco Silva described as "a small injury in the knee". Silva is reluctant to part with Snodgrass, having already sold midfielder Jake Livermore to West Brom for an undisclosed fee. Snodgrass has been linked with a move since December before Hull triggered a one-year contract extension tying him to the club until the end of the 2017-18 season. The potential arrival of Snodgrass seems to be following a fairly unique solution to the "who replaces Payet?" syndrome, namely no one can! So the next best thing is to bring in two or three players to fill the void, it doesn't work with out and out strikers, but attacking midfield is a different matter. Hot on the heals of Fonte's arrival from Southampton ( OK not a midfielder but read on) Snodgrass brings Premier League experience to the table, a vital element for a January transfer arrival, players from other countries rarely are able to adapt to the furious pace and more often than not fall by the way side. Another Payet replacement player tipped to arrive either this window or the next is Swansea City's Gylfi Sigurdsson, he would be an ideal fit and advanced talks have taken place, however City's new boss Paul Clement is reluctant to let his star player go while trying to steer his club out of the relegation battle. Who knows, Sigurdsson + Snodgrass + Fonte = Payet replacement? - Ed

Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce has made enquiries about taking West Ham United's current second choice goal keeper, Adrian Saint Miguel, on loan until the end of the season. Allardyce, who bought Adrian to West Ham while he was manager, is keen to shore up his leaky defence and sees the Spain reserve goalkeeper as a good start in his campaign to restore strength at the back. It is thought the deal being pursued could be with an arrangement to make the move permanent at the end of the season, which might suit both parties given Hammers interest in bringing Manchester City and England goal keeper Joe Hart to the club following his loan spell in Italy. Allardyce is definitely a fan of Adrian, but whether Slaven Billic is prepared to let him go out on loan is another matter, however as it is a goal keeper deal it is possible to structure an 'emergency re-call' clause which would cover the eventuality of an injury or sudden loss of form to current goal keeping incumbent Darren Randolph. There has been a fair amount of interest in Adrian from Spain and Italy, but it is believed he would prefer to stay in the Barclays Premier League where the pay is much better! The player will be mindful of dropping down the pecking order at The London Stadium with Randolph in imperious form and not looking likely to be dispossessed of the keepers jersey, there is also the impending arrival of Joe Hart looming in the distance to take in to consideration. If Adrian does leave the club, he will be missed but remembered for some really good times, his bubbly personality made him a crowd favourite and their good wishes for the future will accompany him where ever he goes. Is Rafael Spiegel up to the task of being number 2 keeper? Not on the evidence of his brief 1st team outings, and it would be so West Ham for Randolph to get injured or red carded as soon as Adrian went out the door, so the onus would be considerable on the Swiss youngster, but he is an International and has performed well for the Youth team so why not? - Ed