West Ham are confident of beating Crystal Palace to the signing of the Swansea City midfielder Flynn Downes. Palace had been leading the race to sign the 23-year-old, but West Ham are making encouraging progress in negotiations after acting on their interest. Swansea have been looking to receive a fee of £12m for Downes, who joined Russell Martin’s side from Ipswich Town last year. With Palace yet to reach an agreement with the Welsh club, West Ham have moved in and are expected to make a suitable offer for Downes. David Moyes, West Ham’s manager, needs cover in midfield for Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek. He has seen a £20m bid for Amadou Onana rejected by Lille, who are understood to have demanded £60m for the 20-year-old. Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse is an ambitious target for Moyes. West Ham are also looking for reinforcements in attack. They will rival Everton for the Chelsea forward Armando Broja and want to sign Jesse Lingard on a free. However Lingard, who has interest from Everton, Newcastle, Tottenham and Leicester, could have to lower his wage demands. West Ham also remain interested in the versatile Blackburn forward Ben Brereton Díaz, who impressed in the Championship last season and could be available for about £15m.