West Ham Close in First January Signing With £12m Move for Newcastle Midfielder

West Ham are closing in on their first signing of the January transfer window in the form of Newcastle United's Jonjo Shelvey.

Manager David Moyes has expressed his desire to strengthen his squad this month following a poor start to the season by the team under Slaven Bilic, and the Scot has earmarked Shelvey as a means of improving the midfield.

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As reported as an exclusive by the Express, the Hammers having been in talks with the Magpies over the past few days. A fee of £12m appears to be the sum that would be enough to tempt Newcastle into the sale, but ideally Rafa Benitez wants a replacement before sanctioning the deal.

Should the move fail to materialise then the Irons could explore the possibility of other options - the club have been linked with moves for Anderlecht's Leander Dendoncker, Arsenal duo Jack Wilshere and Francis Coquelin, and Manchester United star Marouane Fellaini.

Moyes is apparently eyeing something of a squad makeover this month after the club's summer signings have largely failed to impress despite high hopes.

Joe Hart has lost his place to Adrian in goal, while Javier Hernandez and Pablo Zabaleta have both been bitterly disappointing given their previous Premier League experience. Only Marko Arnautovic can be deemed a successful signing at this point, although his performances too have been mixed.

The Irons are however in much better shape since Moyes took over, and now lie 15th in the Premier League table ahead of a run of key fixtures that include Huddersfield, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Watford.