West Ham could be forced to pay up to £12.5 million to beat off Premier League rivals Watford and secure the signing of Scott Hogan, the Brentford striker who has been billed as a "new" Jamie Vardy, sources have told ESPN FC.
Championship outfit Brentford have rejected bids of £8m from the two clubs for the 24-year-old, who has scored 14 goals in 25 appearances for the Griffin Park outfit this season.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic, who has admitted defeat in his attempts to sign Sunderland forward Jermain Defoe, confirmed his interest in Hogan when speaking on Thursday ahead of Friday's FA Cup third round tie against Manchester City at the London Stadium.
"He's a good player. I watched him a few times," Bilic said. "He is very sharp, quick -- a good finisher, doing it in Championship. He's young and a good prospect."
Reports have suggested that Brentford will not consider offers less than £15m, but sources close to negotiations have told ESPN FC that figure is unlikely to be the final fee should a deal be agreed with a buying club this month.
Hogan, who has 18 months remaining on his Brentford contract, has fought back from two cruciate knee ligament injuries to become one of the hottest properties outside the Premier League.
And the Salford-born forward has earned comparisons to Vardy, the Leicester City and England forward, having made the same journey from non-league as the 2015-16 Footballer of the Year.
Hogan spent time at Stocksbridge Park Steels and FC Halifax Town -- both of whom had Vardy in their team -- before making the breakthrough in the Football League with Rochdale.
Should Hogan move this month, Rochdale stand to receive in excess of £1m as part of the deal, having negotiated a substantial sell-on clause when selling the player to Brentford for £750,000 in 2014.
Sources close to West Ham suggested the club are ready to make an increased offer for Hogan over the weekend following the cup clash against City.
And while there is also interest from two other unnamed Premier League clubs, as well as Watford, West Ham are the favourites to sign the player.