West Ham and Marseille heading pursuit of Toulouse forward Martin Braithwaite

Premier League outfit West Ham and Ligue 1 giants Marseille are favourites to land Toulouse forward Martin Braithwaite, according to German newspaper Bild (via Sport Witness).

The 26-year-old enjoyed a stellar season with the French club last time out, bagging 11 goals and laying on three assists in 34 league appearances to help Pascal Dupraz’s men to 13th place in the top-flight, eight points clear of the relegation play-off.

That campaign took his Toulouse goal-scoring tally to 40 goals in just 149 games for the club since moving there back in 2013, and with 13 assists during his time in France, it’s clear that he is a supremely talented forward and one who would strengthen several sides around Europe.

And his excellent form last term has attracted interest from some clubs in the continent, with reports suggesting that Slaven Bilic’s West Ham and Marseille are favourites to land Braithwaite this summer, with Bundesliga outfit Koln also thought to be interested.

Bilic’s Hammers laboured to an 11th place finish in the Premier League last term, a far cry away from the side that finished seventh the season before, and much of that was down to the lack of form of their frontmen.

Andy Carroll was their top-scoring striker with just seven goals in the league, while Andre Ayew, Jonathan Calleri, Ashley Fletcher, and Diafra Sakho could only muster eight strikes between them.

So it’s little surprise to see the East London outfit linked with a forward this summer, but whether they can fend off competition from Marseille and Koln to land the £6.38 million-rated (as per Transfermarkt) forward very much remains to be seen.