West Ham United considering move for Everton's Morgan Schneiderlin

West Ham United are pondering a move for Everton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin and are also considering Bournemouth's Harry Arter as manager David Moyes seeks to add an injection of quality to the centre of his midfield at the London Stadium.

Schneiderlin has come in for severe scrutiny this season after serving up a number of putrid displays that has seen him go from crowd favourite to resident villain at Goodison Park.

His popularity was not exactly enhanced at Everton when reports of his banishment from training emerged last month, but the former Southampton star has certainly shown signs of life under new manager Sam Allardyce, who is yet to taste defeat as manager on Merseyside.

Schneiderlin was back to his very best as Everton kept Chelsea at bay on Saturday (23 December) and will hope to build upon that superb performance when his side travel to face West Bromwich Albion, the club he rejected before signing for the Merseysiders from Manchester United in a deal worth £24m in January.

But West Ham are hoping they can convince both Everton and Schneiderlin himself to join Moyes' men next month, according to the Mirror, though Allardyce is keen to reinvigorate the fleeting France international and would have certainly been encouraged by his performance against Chelsea.

West Ham's interest in Schneiderlin has resulted in no more than an enquiry at this stage, but Moyes has earmarked a new midfielder as his top priority ahead of the January transfer window and apparently has a budget of around £20m to play with. Schneiderlin would eat up all of those funds and then some, but a deal for Arter is presumed to be worth around £15m.

A move for Schneiderlin is unlikely at this stage, but Allardyce, who is keen to do business in January, may see fit to swap the Frenchman for his compatriot in Steven N'Zonzi having recently admitted that he holds an interest in the Sevilla star, who recently told of his desire to leave Andalusia and is believed to be available at around £26.6m.

"I'd be very interested in Steven but if you have a look at how many footballers there are at the club, then it is impossible for me to block that up even more," Allardyce told the Daily Mail.

"We would be better served in other areas - like another goalscorer, maybe a full-back. After that who knows.

"I wouldn't envisage us getting more than two in. I don't think we need more than two."