Hammers keen on J.League star

West Ham want Japan striker Ryoichi Maeda, who plays for J.League club Jubilo Iwata.

Maeda will become free agent when his current two-year contract with Jubilo expires.

In addition to his Jubilo offering an extension, he has received interest from fellow J-League side Yokohama F. Marinos and other teams.

Maeda, 30, made his 250th J.League appearance this season, his 12th with the Shizuoka-based team.

He failed to earn a third straight Golden Boot after scoring 20 and 17 goals in 2009 and 2010, but finished the season with a respectable 14 strikes despite early injuries.

Maeda stood out as a member of this year’s Samurai Blue squad, scoring three goals in Japan’s championship run at the Asian Cup. He also scored against Tajikistan in World Cup qualifier.

“I definitely want to challenge myself overseas as I’m not getting any younger,” Maede said earlier this year.

“But right now that’s all hypothetical.”

Questions are arising, however, of whether Maeda would get a UK working permit.

Current rules require players to appear in at least 75 percent of their country’s ‘A’ matches in a two-year span.

Maeda would not meet those figures despite having earned eight caps in 2011, but exceptions have been made in the past.

West Ham, currently second in the Championship, are said to have offered Maeda a two-year contract worth 1.5 million euros a year.

If accurate, the veteran would earn triple what he earns from Jubilo.

Maeda would be the second Japanese player in the Championship, following Leicester City defender Yuki Abe.