West Ham reject £14m Andre Ayew bid from Swansea

wansea City will have to break their transfer record to re-sign Andre Ayew after a £14m offer was rejected by West Ham United.

Ayew is a priority target for new Swansea manager Carlos Carvalhal but their opening bid has been turned down, with West Ham considering whether to keep the Ghana international after Andy Carroll's injury.

Swansea are prepared to make an improved proposal and will have to eclipse the club record of £15.5m which brought Borja Baston to the Liberty Stadium from Atletico Madrid in August 2016.

Ayew, the winger, could cost up to £18m but Swansea are ready to test West Ham's resolve with a second bid before the January transfer window closes. West Ham signed Ayew for £20.5m from the Welsh club and their stance on selling the 28-year-old could be hardened as Carroll is facing over a month out with an ankle injury Swansea are working on other signings, with the help of leading agent Jorge Mendes, and are hopeful of signing Atletico Madrid's Argentina international Nicolas Gaitan on loan.

Carvalhal will face Liverpool in the Premier League on Monday night claiming he has devised a plan to upset Jurgen Klopp. "It's David versus Goliath, but surprises do happen and we will be ready to prepare a surprise on Monday," he said.

"They have strong points, but a team that lets in three [as they did against Manchester City] has weak points also.

"It is not a team that wins 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, so I look at the game like that. If a team scores four, let's see how they do it and what type of dynamic they have. How can we block them when they have the ball?

"The best teams in the world have very few weak points, but they do have them. So let's try and exploit that and hide the strong points that they do have."

Swansea remain bottom of the league ahead of Monday's game, six points adrift of 17th-placed Stoke.