Spurs and Man City join Hammers in race for midfielder
West Ham were this morning locked in a battle with big-spending Manchester City boss Sven Goran Eriksson and Spurs to sign Newcastle's Kieron Dyer for £5m.
City made their move last night but the Hammers and Spurs have an advantage because Dyer wants to move closer to his young family in Ipswich.
He sat out last night's 4-1 win over Celtic with Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce admitting: "We were just protecting our asset."
The Hammers look nailed on to land the £80,000-aweek England midfielder, though Eriksson did snatch Atletico Madrid's Bulgarian Martin Petrov from under the noses of Tottenham yesterday, which might make Martin Jol determined not to miss out on Dyer.
Dyer, 28, has spent eight years at Newcastle after leaving Ipswich in 1999 but his career has been blighted by injury and the infamous on-field spat with team-mate Lee Bowyer, already part of West Ham boss Alan Curbishley's squad.
If he opts for Spurs he may have problems negotiating the strict wages ceiling at White Hart Lane.
