West Ham United have given up their pursuit of Lyon's Alexandre Lacazette.

Reports as recently as yesterday suggested that the Hammers were confident of signing the French striker but it is believed that they have now withdrawn from the race.

The Sun suggests that Slaven Bilic feels West Ham are only being by Lyon used to increase the asking price for the 25-year-old who is edging closer to a transfer to French giants PSG.

The Hammers reportedly had a bid of £20million rejected by Lyon and it was understood that they were set to return wth a rented proposal of £30m.

However, the East Londoners have now discovered that they are being used as pawns in Lyon's game of chess and will no longer pursue the talented hitman who is destined to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Parc des Princes.