According to reports on BBC Football, Watford are closing in on an £18.5m deal to sign Burnley striker Andre Gray, who has been a long-term West Ham United target, according to reports in The Mirror on July 1.

What’s the word, then?

Well, The Mirror said that the Irons were lining up a £15m bid for the unsettled Clarets striker, who has just one year remaining on his contract at Turf Moor after turning down an offer to stay, this summer having failed to bring him to the London Stadium during the January transfer window.

While the east London outfit did complete a deal for Bayer Leverkusen striker Javier Hernandez last month, it remained to be seen whether they could return to also try and sign Gray in order to further boost their frontline.

However, now BBC Football say that the Hornets are close to bringing the 26-year-old to Vicarage Road, meaning the Hammers will miss out on the attacker who enjoyed an impressive first season in the Premier League last time out.

How well did Gray do?

While he was banned for four matches after being found guilty of sending homophobic tweets in 2012, the striker still managed to score an eye-catching nine goals in 32 appearances for Sean Dyche’s side as they comfortably avoided being involved in a relegation scrap.

Considering it was the 26-year-old’s debut campaign in the English top flight, he showed what a good finisher he can be and it is no wonder that he has attracted interest from some of Burnley’s rivals.

Will West Ham be disappointed with the news?

It depends on whether Slaven Bilic wanted two strikers, or just the one.

There is no doubt that Hernandez would have been their top target once they found out that he was interested in moving to the London Stadium, and they will have been delighted to sign a consistently proven Premier League goalscorer for £16m – £2.5m less than Watford look to be getting Gray for.

However, if Bilic did want another striker with continued fitness doubts over Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho, then he could be a little aggrieved to lose out on Gray, although the Croatian may feel that £18.5m for a player that has just a year remaining on his contract would be too large a figure to splash out.