West Ham receive opening offer for Josh Landers as they consider youngster's future
West Ham United talent Josh Landers could soon be on his way out of the London Stadium.
The 19-year-old striker is highly thought of inside the Academy of Football, and could have a big future with the Hammers.
He signed for West Ham last summer, joining from Scottish side Hibernian after being with the Edinburgh-based outfit since he was 10-years old.
Landers scored nine goals and provided three assists in 30 appearances for West Ham's Under-21s in 2025-26, with seven of those strikes coming in Premier League 2.
With the Irons now preparing for a Championship campaign, some may have wondered whether the teenager may have been given a chance in the senior side in the second tier, perhaps as a backup option to Taty Castellanos.
But it would appear that West Ham decision-makers have a different plan in mind for the Scottish youth international this summer.
Who has made an approach to West Ham for Josh Landers?
Landers is yet to make his competitive debut for West Ham, and that wait looks set to continue.
That's because a report from Scottish journalist with Sky Sports News Anthony Joseph has claimed via his X account that Landers has an offer on the table to return to north of the border.
Scottish Championship side Ayr United are claimed to have made a loan bid to sign Landers, and that West Ham are now considering how to respond.
Quoting one of his earlier posts about Landers' future, Joseph had previously reported that fellow Scottish sides St Mirren and Livingston were also serious players for his signature.
But with Ayr United now perhaps set to win a deal for him, who are Landers' potential new club, and would a move there be a successful one for him?
Why Landers could score plenty of goals for Ayr United
Still just a teenager, finding Landers somewhere he can play regular senior football and score goals feels like a wise thing for West Ham to source for him this summer.
It's not so much about the level he'd be playing at, rather, so long as he's somewhere that provides him with valuable first-team experience and the chance to get his goalscoring confidence up.
Ayr United would likely provide that for Landers, as proven by their numbers in 2025-26.
Despite finishing seventh of 10 in the 2025-26 Scottish Championship season, Ayr registered the fourth-highest shots on target per game average in the league with 3.8, as per FotMob.
Meanwhile, they also placed joint-fourth for big chances (49), joint-third for accurate crosses per game (0.8) and fourth for touches in the opposition box (33).
They've also opened their 2026-27 campaign with a 2-0 win over Arbroath, and have won their last five-straight games in all competitions under new manager Gary Naysmith.
So, Ayr United could be an ideal destination for Landers, as he could go there with relatively little pressure on his shoulders, and just enjoy getting some senior experience under his belt in what appears to be a good attacking team for that level.