West Ham want Shaka Hislop as a replacement for calamity keeper Ludek Miklosko.
Manager Harry Redknapp is running out of patience with the giant Czech and believes his penalty area uncertainty has cost his side too many valuable points this season.
Now he wants to bring in unsettled Hislop from Newcastle to stop the rot, but might have to wait until the end of the season to get his man.
Hislop is out of contract in the summer and has so far rejected Kenny Dalglish's offer of a new deal.
Newcastle have already turned down a pounds 1.7million bid for London-born Hislop, but know they cannot afford to let him see out his contract and leave as a free agent in the close season.
With Republic of Ireland star Shay Given set to return for Saturday's Premiership clash with Arsenal, Dalglish is now willing to let Hislop go for pounds 2.5m.
But Hislop would want a percentage of any transfer fee and has made it clear that he is prepared to run the risk of rejecting any moves until June in order to negotiate his own signing-on fee.
Hislop cost Newcastle pounds 1.5m when he signed for former boss Kevin Keegan from Reading in 1995.
But he is no longer Dalglish's first choice, since Given's arrival from Blackburn in the summer, and is not prepared to commit his future to the club to sit on the bench.
Given has missed the last five games because of World Cup commitments plus a shoulder and ankle injury, and Hislop has conceded just four goals in his absence.
But Given is now fit to return on Saturday and that would convince Hislop he has no long-term future at St. James' Park. Dalglish's dilemma is that third choice keeper Pavel Srnicek also wants to quit the club and has already attracted a series of bids from neighbours Sunderland.
And he needs to raise cash to finance a pounds 1.5m bid for Celtic's Tommy Johnson.
Johnson has been strongly recommended by Dalglish's assistant manager Tommy Burns, who signed the 26-year-old Geordie from Aston Villa last year.
But the player does not figure in the plans of new boss Wim Jansen and has now been told he can leave at the right price.
And Newcastle, with Alan Shearer, Tino Asprilla and Ian Rush all sidelined by injury, see Johnson as the perfect answer to their current striking crisis.
Newcastle-born Johnson would jump at the chance of joining his home club and would provide an urgently-needed solution to Dalglish's problem.
That would come as a bitter blow to Everton boss Howard Kendall, who believed he had the field to himself in the chase for Johnson.
Kendall has already seen a loan move for Rangers' Ally McCoist scuppered by injury problems. Now his interest in Johnson is also under threat.
Newcastle's plc board promised Dalglish 'substantial' transfer backing at their AGM on Monday to keep the chase for honour son the rails.
But money is still tight on Tyneside and West Ham know they could yet land Hislop for pounds 2m.
Meanwhile, Dalglish, who saw his side lose ground on the leaders at Bolton on Monday, has still got the backing of Newcastle old boy Scott Sellars.
The Wanderers midfielder helped his side to a 1-0 win, then said: "I don't go along with people who claim that Kenny isn't passionate enough for the Geordie fans.
"He is very passionate about his football. Maybe he keeps his cards closer to his chest than Kevin Keegan ever did, but so do 99 per cent of managers.
"Kevin was a one-off in that respect, and you will never find another like him.
"I know Newcastle fans were gutted when Kevin left. But he had to be replaced, and you couldn't wish for anyone more knowledgeable or better equipped than Kenny.
"Any new manager needs time to get his ideas across. But he's got a cracking squad and will have them challenging for the top honours once everyone is fit.
"The title is all-important to people up there - and given time, Kenny can deliver it."