West Ham are eyeing a £15M move for Barcelona forward Martin Braithwaite when the summer transfer window opens, claims The Daily Mail.
Barcelona only signed Braithwaite in February after taking advantage of a LaLiga ruling that permits clubs to sign players outside of the two transfer windows that run during a season.
Ousmane Dembele's long-term injury was confirmed shortly after the winter window closed and Barcelona were therefore allowed to poach a replacement from a fellow Spanish club.
After being linked with a variety of forward, Barcelona took Braithwaite from relegation strugglers Leganes after matching his €18M (£15.8M) release clause.
The decision to allow Barcelona to take Leganes' top scorer from them was widely criticised as the Spanish minnows were unable to sign a replacement.
Braithwaite has only been at the club over a month but is already being linked with a move away at the next possible opportunity.
The former Middlesbrough forward was only signed as a short-term solution with Barcelona well down on available attackers due to a number of injuries.
However, the outbreak of COVID-19 has forced football to stop across the world and by the time it returns Barcelona will more or less be back up to their full quota of players.
Braithwaite made just one start and two substitute appearances for Barcelona in LaLiga before football was suspended and is unlikely to build on that too much.
Everton have also been linked with a move for the 28-year-old but West Ham appear ready to take their interest to the next level.
Braithwaite has already endured a stint in English football but things went poorly during his time with Championship side Middlesbrough.
The Frenchman returned to Ligue 1 after just six months at Boro to join Bordeaux on loan for the remainder of the 2017/18 campaign.
Braithwaite returned to Middlesbrough later that summer and played the first half of the 2018/19 campaign for them before signing for Leganes on loan in January last year.
During a disjointed spell at Boro, Braithwaite only managed eight goals in 36 appearances in the Championship.
