Khouma Babacar
Khouma Babacar made his debut for Fiorentina when he was just 16.

Fiorentina striker Khouma Babacar has revealed that West Ham United have been in contact with his agent but admitted that a move to Arsenal may be better for his development.

The Gunners have been linked with the Senegalese striker and it seems that Babacar is aware of their interest and believes Arsene Wenger is one of the best managers to work with when you are a young player.

"It is very encouraging when you are linked with clubs such as Arsenal, they are one of the best teams in the world and they do great things with young players," said Babacar, as quoted in the Express.

"The manager there has such a good reputation to develop talent, but I am under contract with Fiorentina so they will have to decide if I have to go to England.

"I heard about West Ham through my agent, but they have not made anything official yet."

The 20-year-old is currently on-loan at Serie B Modena and has scored seven goals in just 10 league appearances this season.

Babacar may currently be playing in the Italian second division but he has already demonstrated his quality in the top flight having made his debut for Fiorentina when he was just 16-years-old against Chievo Verona in a Coppa Italia game back in 2010.

He went on to score in that game and then netted his first league goal in a 3-0 win over Genoa but has since been loaned out to Spanish side Racing Santander and Italian side Padova before joining Modena on-loan in the summer.

It is perhaps unsurprising that West Ham have shown an interest in the powerful 6ft 3" forward as the club are desperately short of options in attack and have been forced to play a number of games this season without a recognised striker.

Babacar would likely be a relatively cheap option for West Ham but they may struggle to compete with Arsenal if the north London club decide that the striker could be one for the future.

Wenger snapped up 20-year-old French striker Yaya Sanogo in the summer and has consistently shown that he is prepared to sign young players and nurture them at the club's academy.