Tony Cottee: 'Stewart Downing move could be great'

Former West Ham United striker Tony Cottee has claimed that the potential arrival of Stewart Downing could be a "really good buy" for the club.

The winger is understood to be on the verge of joining the Hammers from Liverpool in a £5m deal.

"It hasn't quite worked for him at Liverpool and he has lost his way a bit but I think what Sam (Allardyce) will do, and is good at, is put an arm around him, tell him how great he is and put him in the first team, and I think potentially he could be a really good buy for the club," Cottee told talkSPORT.

Liverpool are expected to make a loss of around £15m on Downing after signing him from Aston Villa for £20m in 2011.