Leicester Make Improved Offer for West Ham Target James Tarkowski

Leicester have gone back in with an improved offer for Burnley's James Tarkowski, who has also been linked with West Ham.

Both clubs are keen on bolstering the centre of defence this summer and have earmarked the 27-year-old, who's earned two England caps to date, as the ideal candidate.

The Foxes had been forced to field Wilfred Ndidi at centre back for recent clashes, with Jonny Evans out injured and 36-year-old Wes Morgan falling down the pecking order at the King Power Stadium.

Evans is fit to return for their Premier League clash with Manchester City, but Leicester have been rocked by the news that Ndidi will be out for up to 12 weeks with a groin injury. Due to that, the Telegraph have revealed Brendan Rodgers has stepped up his interest in Tarkowski with an improved bid.

The latest offer is set to exceed the £30m the club bid earlier this window, but it still falls short of the £50m asking price Sean Dyche wants for his defender. Leicester are nevertheless hopeful of negotiating this number down to fall in line with the impact of COVID-19 on football finances.

Tarkowski is said to favour a move to the Midlands side in pursuit of returning to the international set-up, having already expressed an unwillingness to move to West Ham, who have made offers of their own to secure his services.

Ahead of the trip to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, Rodgers said: "There's a number of players associated with ourselves and it's clear that centre-back is a position where we're looking to bring someone in. We'll see what the club can do and we'll take it from there."

Since moving from Brentford in 2016, Tarkowski has made 143 appearances for the Clarets, scoring five goals.

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