How West Ham can steal Zan Vipotnik from promotion rivals Swansea as financial figures emerge
West Ham United have already been linked with a move to sign Swansea City's Zan Vipotnik.
The Hammers have already got one over the Swans after their 1-0 win in Wales on Saturday, leaping to second place in the Championship.
Swansea still sit pretty at the top of the table, but the gap to first has now been narrowed to just one point.
The standout area for Nuno Espirito Santo's side right now is attack, but their 1-0 over the Swans saw more credit go to the defence.
But with almost a quarter of the season gone, attention will soon turn to the January transfer window, where clubs will look for the missing pieces to push them over the line and into the Premier League.
West Ham could look for some additional firepower in the winter, as they may view the prospect of stealing Vipotnik from their promotion rivals as an attractive one.
West Ham get new Zan Vipotnik transfer reveal after summer interest
West Ham were credited with interest in Vipotnik in the summer, who looked destined to leave Swansea.
The 24-year-old finished last season as the Championship's top goal scorer after netting 23 times, six more than Coventry City's Haji Wright in second place with 17.
Vipotnik had major interest across Europe, but for one reason or another, stayed put at the Swansea.com Stadium, where he is currently still working his way back into the good books.
According to CIES Football Observatory's transfer market value calculations, Vipotnik's price tag is a minimum of £15million, with a maximum of £17.6m.
That said, West Ham could test the waters with a £15m bid in January for last season's Championship golden boot winner.
Vipotnik featured in Swansea's 1-0 loss to the Irons last weekend, and must know that the E20 side are piling the pressure on his team now.
What West Ham learnt about Vipotnik after win vs Swansea
Vipotnik has started just three out of 11 games in the Championship for Swansea this term, after a summer move away from the club failed to materialise.
Interestingly, Vitor Matos' side appear to be performing better with Adam Idah up top, and Swansea could be open to cashing in on Vipotnik in the winter.
Nuno saw the Slovenian striker come off the bench for the final 14 minutes of the game, despite the fact that Swansea were trailing from the 34th minute.
If that doesn't tell West Ham that there are some problems behind the scenes that they can capitalise on financially, then will they ever become a smart-thinking club again?