West Ham may be about to strengthen their forward options by signing free agent John Carew.

Sky Sports is reporting the 31-year-old is having a medical at Upton Park after boss Sam Allardyce confirmed yesterday that talks had taken place with the former Aston Villa striker.

The Hammers boss told Sky Sports News: “There has been an interest in John. I have had a chat with him but he has a number of options on the table.

“We’ve given him our terms and conditions and we will try, if we can, to go from there. But whether we negotiate that or whether he will accept that is obviously another matter.

“He is another quality player who has played at most levels of football in his lifetime and he’s only just in his 30s, so he’s a very mature, experienced and good player.

“If he chooses us we would be delighted.”

Carew, who moved to Villa Park for £5m from Lyon, left the Premiership club at the end of last season after his contract expired, having been on loan at Stoke City since January.

If Carew does sign, it would be yet another signal of the club's intent to bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt following the capture of former top-flight players Kevin Nolan and Matt Taylor already this summer.

The Hammers will begin their promotion quest at home to Cardiff City tomorrow.