Report Claims Chelsea Shortlist Another West Ham Star as Blues Look to Bolster Attack

After seeing potential moves for Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch and Christian Benteke fail to come to fruition, Chelsea are now believed to be interested in making a move for Marko Arnautović.

The Austrian forward only moved to West Ham during the summer and after enduring a difficult spell under Slaven Bilić, Arnautović is back to his best under David Moyes.

The former Stoke City winger has been deployed in a more central role by Moyes and after increasing his goal tally to six in the Premier League over the last few weeks, Chelsea have shortlisted the 28-year-old as a potential transfer target.

According to a report from ESPN, sources close to the west London club have said that a move for Arnautović is being considered by the Chelsea hierarchy as the club look to appease Antonio Conte's desire of having a target-man in reserve at Stamford Bridge.

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Chelsea are understood to be closest to agreeing that will see Edin Džeko move to Stamford Bridge, with Roma left-back Emerson Palmieri also believed to be involved in a potential double transfer this January.

However, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand believes that the Blues are overlooking Tammy Abraham - a Chelsea academy graduate who is currently impressing whilst on loan at Swansea.

"Chelsea have Tammy Abraham in their ranks who is a tall, rangy player," Ferdinand said on BT Sport over the weekend. "You'd have him as a target man, he fits the bill, so why isn't he being brought back from loan?"