WEST HAM are ready to pay Jermain Defoe more than £100,000-a-week in an attempt to lure him to the London Stadium – but Sunderland officials remain confident the striker will not be leaving Wearside this month.

Defoe’s future continues to be the subject of intense debate, with Hammers boss Slaven Bilic having cranked up the pressure further yesterday by describing the 34-year-old as an “excellent player” who “guarantees goals”.

Sunderland’s hierarchy are understood to be frustrated at Bilic’s public courting of Defoe, and fear yesterday’s comments are part of a concerted effort to unsettle the former England international, who started his career at West Ham’s former home, Upton Park.

Despite having had two offers for Defoe rejected already this week – the second of which was worth £6m – West Ham remain hopeful of forcing through a deal before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

Bilic has revealed that Simone Zaza will not be making another Hammers appearance as he does not want to trigger a clause in the Italian’s loan deal that would commit West Ham to a £20m deal with Juventus, and the Croatian is determined to land two attacking players to support Andy Carroll and Andre Ayew.

Defoe continues to top his wanted list, and sources in London claim West Ham’s rulers have pledged to pay more than £100,000-a-week over the course of a two-and-a-half year deal if Sunderland’s leading goalscorer agrees to leave the North-East.

Defoe is currently the Black Cats’ highest earner with a weekly pay packet of around £80,000, but West Ham are ready to increase that figure significantly in an attempt to force through a deal.

Sunderland chief executive Martin Bain has promised to support David Moyes this month, and the Black Cats boss is adamant he does not want to lose Defoe with his side struggling in the relegation zone.

That could change if Defoe was to publicly agitate for a move, but despite West Ham’s interest, the Londoner has shown no indication of wanting to force through a transfer. Having played a pivotal role in Sunderland’s successful survival battles in the last two seasons, sources close to Defoe continue to claim he is happy and settled on Wearside.

Nevertheless, West Ham’s interest is not going away, and Bilic was keen to publicly outline his admiration for the former Hammer yesterday.

“He has the things that are the most important in a football game – that’s goals,” said Bilic, who was speaking ahead of his side’s FA Cup third-round tie with Manchester City tonight. “He scored them last season, maybe or probably the main reason they stayed up, and then he continues to do the same this season, scoring again. A couple in the last game (against Liverpool).

“In every game he is having chances, and most of the chances he is converting them into goals. He is an excellent player of course.”

Despite signing Defoe on a free transfer when they engineered a swap deal with Toronto FC involving Jozy Altidore, Sunderland officials are aware that the potential for a healthy profit has to be weighed against the damage that would be caused by selling the striker this month.

Defoe’s 11 Premier League goals make him his side’s leading goalscorer by a distance, and given that he has also contributed two assists this season, it would be impossible to replace him if he was to leave.

Moyes is likely to hold face-to-face talks with the striker to ascertain his feelings on the situation, with Defoe’s friend and former team-mate, Jermaine Jenas, claiming the Sunderland striker will be interested in re-joining West Ham.

“He’s come up (to Sunderland) and done such a good job – he’s already achieved legend status,” said Jenas. “All that hard work, leaving right now, I think would be undone because he would be leaving them in the lurch.

“But somewhere within him, he’s probably got that urge to put some wrongs right at West Ham because of the way he left.

“If we’re honest, if you’re looking at the two clubs and who’s progressing more, you’d have to say West Ham. And I’m pretty sure that he would rather be back in London, and be a part of what West Ham are trying to do.”

Defoe has not made a public statement on his position in the wake of West Ham’s two unsuccessful offers, but he has spoken of the need to extract some revenge when Burnley visit the Stadium of Light in the FA Cup third round.

Burnley, who are set to hand Joey Barton a second debut in tomorrow’s game, beat Sunderland 4-1 in the league at Turf Moor on New Year’s Eve, and the Black Cats squad have not forgotten how poorly they performed in that game.

“We’ll bring them here, and we owe them one,” said Defoe. “It’s a cup game, and we always want to do well in the cups.

“We’ve got a few injuries, so I’m not sure what the manager is going to do, but we want to win games because it’s good for the confidence within the squad.”