West Ham's joint chairman David Sullivan has revelaed the club explored the possibility of bringing Demba Ba back to east London during the January transfer window.
Slaven Bilic has been keen to reinforce his attacking line this month and has so far seen three bids for Brentford's Scott Hogan knocked back.
Chelsea's Michy Batshuayi is also on West Ham's radar and Sullivan has revealed the club looked into a deal for Shanghai Shenhua striker Ba.
The Hammers chief told talkSPORT: "We looked to bring Demba Ba back in this window but were told he was 3 weeks from playing after recovering from his injury."
The 31-year-old spent a season at the Boleyn Ground, scoring seven goals in 10 Premier League starts before leaving for Newcastle following the club's relegation to the Championship.
West Ham have already signed Robert Snodgrass from Hull and Southampton's Jose Fonte this month, while Dimitri Payet completed a £25million move back to Marseille after refusing to play for the club.
The strikers West Ham have tried to sign since last summer
But Sullivan has warned fans West Ham will not by busy on Deadline Day.
He added: "Don't expect much coming in today. We might have a couple of young players going out on loan. Reece Oxford might be going to Reading."
