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Tottenham lead West Ham in race for Eidur Gudjohnsen

Gudjohnsen has enjoyed great success at Chelsea and Barcelona

Tottenham have stolen a march on West Ham in the race to sign former Chelsea and Barcelona forward Eidur Gudjohnsen.

West Ham were confident of capturing the 31-year-old on loan from Monaco until the summer after the Icelander underwent a medical at the club.

But Spurs, who BBC Sport understands have been negotiating a deal for weeks, now appear his likelier destination after further talks on Wednesday.

It is thought Gudjohnsen will make his final decision in the next 48 hours.

Should Gudjohnsen, who only joined Monaco last summer, opt to sign for Tottenham, it will a bitter pill to swallow for new Hammers co-owner David Sullivan, who reacted angrily to news of Spurs' interest.

"We thought we had a deal and the player had even had a medical," he said. "We then heard that Tottenham were trying to speak to the player.

"I can't say I am happy about it but I believe in karma and what goes around, comes around."

Sullivan is prioritising strikers as he looks to boost the Hammers squad amid their battle against relegation, with Benni McCarthy poised to sign from Blackburn for £2.5m and Manchester City striker Benjani Mwaruwari also on their radar.

606: DEBATE Can Gudjohnsen still cut it in the Premier League?

For Tottenham, meanwhile, Gudjohnsen would provide cover for a number of positions as the north Londoners look to push for a top-four finish.

They already have four strikers in Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, Robbie Keane and Roman Pavlyuchenko at the club, though the latter's position is far from settled as the Russian looks to negotiate a move away from White Hart Lane.

However, Gudjohnsen's arrival would not depend on one of the quartet leaving.

And it is thought he is more likely seen as an experienced replacement for Giovani dos Santos, the Mexican playmaker who joined Galatasaray on loan until the end of the season on Wednesday.

Gudjohnsen twice won the Premier League title with Chelsea, in 2005 and 2006, and helped Barcelona to quadruple glory in 2009.