West Ham and QPR Interested in Signing Former Chelsea Forward – Report

West Ham United and struggling Queens Park Rangers are both keen to offer former Chelsea striker Soloman Kalou the chance to return to the Premier League in January.

The Ivory Coast international left Chelsea last summer when his contract expired and was linked with several clubs in England before deciding to join French side Lille.

However, Lille have endured a difficult start to the season as they failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League and are currently languishing down in 11<sup>th place in Ligue 1.

The Daily Mail believes that Kalou is considering a return to England and that Lille would be prepared to do business in the January transfer window. This is said to have alerted West Ham and QPR who were both keen to sign the forward on a free in the summer.

The two London clubs have had very different starts to the season with West Ham pushing for a top half finish after amassing 23 points from their opening 17 games, while QPR have just 10 points and only achieved their first win last weekend.

Despite struggling to adapt to life in France, Kalou has scored three goals this season, including a superb strike against Bayern Munich as Lille were on the wrong end of a 6-1 drubbing.

The 27-year-old would also offer a wealth of Premier League experience to West Ham and QPR having played more than 150 league games for Chelsea in his six year stint at Stamford Bridge.

He would also add a much needed goal threat having scored 10 league goals in the 2010/11 season and 59 in total during his time in England.

The Mail believes that one sticking point for the London clubs will be the wages of Kalou who is believed to be one of the top earners at the French club.

West Ham and QPR have struggled for goals from their front players this season with Djibril Cisse managing just two, while Andy Carroll and Carlton Cole have scored just two between them.