AYEGBENI YAKUBU could be set for a January exit from Everton after expressing his desire for a move to West Ham United.

The Nigerian was the subject of a controversial approach by the Hammers during the summer transfer window.

Six weeks after seeing Everton reject their £6million bid for the player, West Ham enraged the Goodison outfit by lodging a second, lower bid that was dismissed as “derisory”.

Nevertheless, West Ham manager Avram Grant is keen to bolster his strikeforce and has not lost interest in Yakubu, having worked with the forward when in charge at Israeli side Maccabi Haifa.

Grant was spotted talking to the Nigeria international during half-time of Tuesday’s 1-1 draw between the teams a Upton Park.

Yakubu has endured a difficult campaign, netting just once in seven starts and among the batch of strikers that continue to misfire under Moyes this season.

And it has now emerged the 28-year-old would be willing to make the move to London after growing frustrated at his lack of first-team opportunities this season.

Everton would have to lower their summer asking price for Yakubu if West Ham are to make any serious offer, but Moyes may be tempted to move the Nigerian on and free up funds to bring in a replacement during next month’s transfer window.

Although Tuesday’s draw – their seventh in their last 11 games – means Everton are ensconced in mid-table with 22 points at the halfway point of the Premier League season, but Yakubu believes European remains a realistic ambition.

“That’s our target,” he said. “We want to finish in Europe. We’ll see how it goes. We’ll take each game as it comes and work hard in training.

“It’s not going to be easy but we’ll try. As a player you want to keep winning every week. Sometimes we don’t do that but we want to keep doing the right things in training. At the moment results are not always going for us.”