American consortium to make bid for Hammers next Monday

American consortium are to make a £100 million bid for West Ham United next week.

London-based Inter Market have revealed they intend to lodge a bid for the Premier League strugglers next Monday and plan to provide funds for Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola in January.

New York-born Jim Bowe is the chief executive of the company but several of the investors are believed to be West Ham supporters and are desperate to help the East Londoners out of the relegation battle which they have become embroiled in this season.

Inter Market are said to be keen to seal a deal for the Upton Park outfit as soon as possible so they can give Zola enough time to buy new players during the January transfer window.

It is believed CB Holdings, the company in control of West Ham, are looking favourably at the deal but are in no rush to sell after they rejected a previous bid by former Birmingham City co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan earlier in December.